DRamione Untitled
by harrypotterfreak53
Summary: Hermione and Draco are forced to work together as Head Boy and Girl and they hate each other, obviously, but when Draco goes through a mental break down, who will be there to help? :P
1. Chapter 1 INTRO

**Note: I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS :) jkr does**

**First chapter of my new Dramione :) I hope you like it. Please review, even if it sucks I WANT TO KNOW. This is just the intro sooo it's a little short and a little slow. I edited it for weeks and I'm still not completely happy with it. Anyway, please review. It would make me very happy :P**

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><p>The war was over. Minerva McGonagall, recently appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was working furiously to rebuild the school and prepare for the upcoming term. She had decided that all Hogwarts students were to repeat their last year, seeing as their learning had been corrupted by the works of Lord Voldemort. This meant that the first years would double in size. Everyone was excited for <em>that.<em>

After the war had finished, Hermione and Harry both had no home to return to. Being the generous woman that she was, Mrs. Weasley kindly offered to take them in for the summer. Although Ron and Hermione had connected during the war, she was soon discovering that her feelings towards him were disintegrating. She didn't know why but she was constantly finding herself uncomfortable when she was alone with him. She just didn't feel the spark that was once there. Ron was crushed when she revealed this to him. Hermione felt terrible about it, but how could she go on like this, lying to him and herself? Since then, they had barely spoken a word to each other.

On August 18th, two weeks before the start of term, Mrs. Weasley burst into Ron's room that he was sharing with Harry.

"Get up, Boys! Breakfast is nearly ready, and your Hogwarts letters just arrived!"

As she bustled off to wake the girls, Harry and Ron sat up groggily and headed for the kitchen. The warm scent of bacon and pancakes filled the air. On the table were four barn owls, all with similar letters attached to their legs. Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry all shuffled over sleepily to retrieve their letters. As they opened them in silence, Mrs. Weasley was watching them curiously. All of a sudden Hermione gasped in surprise.

"I-I can't believe it." She stammered, "I'm- I'm Head Girl!"

Pulling her badge out of the envelope, she twirled in a circle while giggling hysterically.

"Wow! Congratulations, Hermione!" Harry added

"Harry? Did you get Head Boy?" asked Ron.

"No I didn't. I wasn't really expecting to."

"Well, then, who did?" Ron inquired.

Hermione glanced at the letter again and gasped for a second time.

"WHAT?" she shouted, "It's- it's Malfoy! Malfoy is Head Boy!"

A look of utter shock spread across their faces. Harry was the first to speak.

"You know what this means, don't you? Head Boy and Girl always get a separate dorm. You have to share a common room with him, with Malfoy!"

Oh just _wonderful_! My final year at Hogwarts and I have to share quarters with that arrogant prat!"

Ron stalked out of the room with his head hung. If only he could have been good enough to be Head Boy, then maybe Hermione wouldn't get so bored with him.

Miles away at Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy was just awakening to find a large tawny Owl Pecking at his window. He dragged himself out of bed and slid the window open. The owl flew in and landed softly on his bed. Draco snatched the letter up and immediately noticed the Hogwarts crest. As he read, his pale eyes widened. How? He thought to himself. How could this de? His father was a Death Eater and he had fought alongside Lord Voldemort. Why would McGonagall make him Head Boy? What could he have that was so desirable for the position? He looked over the letter again and noticed that Hermione Granger was listed as Head Girl. _Typical_.

Draco slowly walked down the stairs where his parents, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, were eating breakfast in silence. He tossed the letter on the table where it landed right in front of his mother. She read it over quickly before jumping up in a burst of happiness.

"Oh, Draco! I'm so proud of you!" She danced over to him, handing the letter to Lucius on the way. Draco plastered a phony smile on his face while his mother pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I don't understand." Lucius burst out unexpectedly, "how could they trust you with this. With me being under investigation and everything that has happened, how could they trust _you_?"

"That's what I thought." Draco said coolly, "Look whose Head Girl. Yeah, Hermione Granger."

His father stared down in disbelief, "That mudblood girl?"

"Yeah, that's the one. _Granger_." Draco added in disgust.

"Well that'll mean you'll be sharing quarters with her?"

"I suppose so."

"I don't want you getting to close to her."

"Trust me, Father, you won't need to worry about _that_." Draco said as he stalked off to shower and dress.

A week after their letters arrived, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley all headed for Diagon

Alley. The ministry had lent a car to them for their work in defeating Lord Voldemort, so transportation was not an issue. They all woke early, ate breakfast and piled into the ministry car. Harry and Ginny sat in the last row of seats holding hands and whispering quietly, as they had been reunited after the threat of Voldemort had passed. Therefore, Ron and Hermione were forced to sit next to each other in uncomfortable silence as Mrs. Weasley drove. Hey were both glad to be free of the awkward tension when they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron several long minutes later. As they shopped, they noticed that Olivander's was up and running again as well as Weasley Wizard Wheezes although it wasn't nearly as cheerful as it once was with both of the Weasley twins there. After getting new robes at Madame Malkin's, their last stop was Flourish and Blotts. After they had collected their new school books, they stepped into line where they were very displeased to see Draco Malfoy standing with his pointy- faced mother.

"Ah, Potter, didn't expect to see you here." Draco said noticing their presence, "thought you'd be out saving mankind somewhere," he smirked, "and Granger! I hear we'll be rooming together this year. Ought to be fun, eh?" Narcissa looked away, ignoring the conversation. Hermione Scoffed at his remark and rolled her eyes, turning away.

"You can't ignore me for long, Granger." He added as he paid for his books and brushed past her, walking out the door.

"Well _that_ was pleasant," said Harry sarcastically, "never thought he'd want to go back to Hogwarts after what he did to it."

"Let's just get going." Ron said nervously.

After they finished in Flourish and Blotts, they met Mrs. Weasley back at the car to head back to the Burrow. When they got home, Mrs. Weasley went inside to prepare supper while the rest of them gathered their new things from the car and headed inside. When Hermione noticed Ron looking sullen, she stopped and held him back a minute.

"Ron?" she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Look, Ron, I'm really sorry, I am, but I don't know what to do. I've given you my reasons, could you just forgive me?"

"Just stop, Hermione, forget about it." He said angrily. He continued inside without looking back.

Over the next few days, Ron and Hermione didn't talk to each other at all. Not even a, "Good Morning" or a, "How are you today." Hermione was completely distraught. Ginny comforted her as best she could saying, "He'll come around." But Hermione wasn't so sure. She didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't lie to him either. Harry and Ron mostly kept to themselves; Organizing and packing their things for their final year at Hogwarts. The next few days were uneventful. The time could not seem to go any slower. Everyone was so excited to be returning to Hogwarts. Everyone except Hermione, that is. To be perfectly honest, she was very nervous. Malfoy had always belittled her ever since their first year. How would she be able to cope with the torment all year? Would she be capable of working with him in addition to the snarky remarks she was sure to hear about her bloodline? Hermione was contemplating all of this extensively as she sat on the cot in Ginny's room, double-checking that she had packed everything. It was nearly midnight before Ginny and Hermione turned off the light and settled in their beds.

Hermione woke suddenly as Mrs. Weasley bustled about the house calling up to them constantly. Hermione and Ginny both sat up and hurried to get dressed. After they had changed, the girls dragged their trunks downstairs to the kitchen where the boys were eating in silence. Once they finished breakfast, everyone pulled their trunks outside to load up the ministry car they had used last week. Finally, everyone was settled in the car and they were off. Ginny made sure to sit with Hermione, as she had noticed the problems with Ron and Hermione sitting together last week. Before long, they arrived at King's Cross Station. As they walked towards platforms 9 and 10, the muggles around them stared curiously.

"Alright then" said Mrs. Weasley, "Ron, why don't you go first. Harry, you next."

After they were all onto Platform 9¾, Mrs. Weasley hugged them all goodbye, wishing them a good term. The four students climbed onto the Hogwarts Express and found an empty compartment where the put away their trunks and settled in for the long journey. Harry and Ginny sat across from Ron and Hermione who ere looking quite uncomfortable. Soon, Luna Lovegood, a 7th year Ravenclaw, and Neville Longbottom, a 7th year Gryffindor, entered their compartment, their hands clasped tightly together, and sat between Ron and Hermione.

"Neville! Luna! How've you been?" Hermione asked. They glanced at each other and smiled.

"Quite well, actually." Neville answered, "Luna came to stay with me and Grams over the summer."

"And how is she, your grandmother?"

"She's great, really great. 'Spect she's proud of me for once. And how are you, Hermione?"

"Alright. Missing my parents a bit, but I'll see them soon enough."

"Hermione's Head Girl!" Harry said unexpectedly.

"Wow, Hermione! With your brains, how could we have expected anything different?" Neville said.

Hermione blushed, looking embarrassed, "Thank you, really. Well, I'm going to go change into my robes. Luna? Ginny? Want to come along?"

"I'd love to," Luna replied. When they left, Neville turned to Ron.

"What's going on, mate? What happened with Hermione?"

"She doesn't like me anymore. I expect she never did. Just got caught up in the excitement of the war"

"I'm sorry, Ron, I shouldn't have mentioned it."

Ron just grunted and looked out the window.

"So, Harry, did you get Head Boy?" Neville continued.

"No. I don't mind though. I don't think I'd want to be Head Boy anyway. I've got too much work as Quidditch Captain."

"Well, if you didn't get it, then who did?"

"Malfoy." Harry said with a scoff

"No way!"

"Yeah. Hermione wasn't too happy that _small_ detail." He laughed.

Just then, the girls walked back in, Hermione's badge shining on the front of her robes.

"What'd we miss?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing important." Harry answered as she took her seat next to him and entwined her fingers with his. Hours later, after the lunch trolley had come and past, a tiny first year with long black hair and square glasses knocked on the compartment door.

"Miss Hermione Granger?" she said timidly, "there's a prefects meeting in the largest compartment at the front of the train. I was told to rally everyone."

"Thank you. I'll be right down." She answered. After the girl left, Hermione turned to Ron.

"Well, come on then." She said

"What?" he asked confused.

"The prefects meeting, in the largest compartment? Honestly, have you been day dreaming?"

"Right, right" he said as he followed her out of the compartment.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate? Suggestions for improvements? please review :)<strong>

**I know there was like no "dramione" in this part but i'm trying to have them have a relationship that's developed over a while.**

__**So I'm sorry if it's slow but it'll get better (hopefully) :P thanks for reading**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: I do not own these characters. JKR does :)**

**I was thinking that this would take me a lot longer but I worked on it all night and it's done!**

**please review and tell me what you think :P**

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><p>Hermione and Ron walked down the long corridor to the front of the train in uncomfortable silence. When they reached the large compartment, a few other prefects were already there, along with Professor Slughorn.<p>

"Ah! Miss Granger, our Head Girl! And Ralphie, it's good to see you." Slughorn could never seem to get Ron's name right.

"Professor, did you call this meeting?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Yes, well, Professor McGonagall asked me to discuss new procedures for prefects."

"Oh wonderful! I'm really excited for this year."

Oh! Miss Granger, Professor McGonagall also asked me to inform you and Mr. Malfoy that you two will need to work together to create schedules for the prefects." He said, "Well, why don't you take a seat, we'll be starting soon."

Hermione and Ron sat down and fell silent once more. Five minutes later, the compartment was nearly full, but there was so sign of Malfoy. Maybe he missed the train, she thought, or maybe they made a mistake and he really wasn't Head Boy. Just as she was contemplating this, the tall, lean, blonde figure of Draco Malfoy strode in, taking the last empty seat. He felt Hermione's stare and looked up to meet her eyes. She looked away embarrassed while he smirked. Just then, Slughorn began the meeting.

"Welcome, Prefects, to this short but informative gathering," he started, "In light of what has happened these past few months, Professor McGonagall wishes that I inform you of the new patrolling schedule. It is, in fact, quite a bit more than previous years, but I know you all will do your very best to support your school. You will all have patrolling time 5 days a week instead of the 3 you had last year. Furthermore, I wish to congratulate our new heads, Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Draco Malfoy." Slughorn clapped along with the other prefects. "Now," he continued, "Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy will be working together to create the schedules and will soon deliver them to each of you. If conflicts arise with your schedule, you may talk to either one of them. Alright then, that's about it. I wish you all a successful term and I shall see you at the feast!"

With that, most of the prefects filtered out of the compartment and went back to their friends. The last ones in the compartment were Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy. Ron stood to leave, while Hermione and Malfoy stayed seated.

"Aren't you coming?" He asked Hermione.

"Well, I better start working on the patrolling schedules with Malfoy; I'll see you guys later."

"Alright, then, see you." he said as he stepped into the main corridor of the train.

Malfoy spoke first, "Well, Granger, let me know when you've finished those schedules, will you?"

"No way! I'm not letting you get away with this. You have responsibilities now!" she said angrily.

"Alright, alright," he said, "where do we start?"

For the next few hours, they worked vigorously to finish the September patrolling schedule. Just as they finished, Slughorn returned.

"Wow! You've finish already?" he asked. "You two will work great together." He added beaming, "Anyway, here's a list of the new passwords for this term. That includes you dormitories, the Head Mistresses office and the four house common rooms. If you don't mind, I'd like you to give the prefects the passwords as well, but only for their own common rooms of course." With that, Slughorn handed Hermione a slip of parchment and exited, leaving Hermione and Draco alone once more.

"Alright, I'll go deliver schedules and passwords to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff prefects; you deliver to Slytherin and Ravenclaw." Hermione said importantly. She and Draco left the compartment together and headed in opposite directions. When she was finished, Hermione headed back to the compartment where Harry, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny all sat, talking excitedly about the upcoming year. Hermione walked in quietly and handed Ron a slip of parchment.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Your patrolling schedule for September."

He glanced at the paper, "What? You've got me assigned for mostly late evenings! That's going to interfere with Quidditch!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ron. I didn't realize. You'll have to take it up with Malfoy; he's in charge of any changes this week."

Ron sat down mumbling to himself about Quidditch. The remainder of the journey was quiet. Harry and Ginny talked animatedly about the newest racing broom, the Thunderbird, while Hermione read one of her new school books, and Ron stared out the window. Neville and Luna had gone to visit with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.

When the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station, the new first years went to take the boats with Hagrid, while everyone else headed toward the carriages. When they turned the corner, many gasps could be heard throughout the crowd. Since a lot of them had now seen death, they could now see the horse-like Thestrals that were pulling the carriages. Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron all piled into the nearest carriage, that soon began to move up the steep hill towards the castle. After the new first had been sorted, Professor McGonagall stood to make announcements.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I want to first address our new Heads, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy." Whispers broke out among the students, "I know they will do well this year." She said with a smile, "Also, I wish to say welcome to our _new_ first year. Now, I know you all are hungry, so, let the feast begin!"

Food appeared out of nowhere onto gold and silver platters, and goblets filled with pumpkin juice. The Great Hall buzzed with chatter and excitement. Ginny turned to speak to Hermione.

"It's going to be strange, you know? Not having you sleep in the same dormitories as the rest of us. It's quite sad actually."

"I know, but I can still hang out with you in the Gryffindor common room. It's not like I want to be near Malfoy."

"Right, well, perhaps he's grown up a bit since the war. He doesn't seem as snarky as he was during previous years."

"You're right. Maybe it's because his father is under serious investigation, I bet he's worried about that."

"Yeah, maybe." Ginny said distantly as she turned to face Harry, who was sitting beside her.

After the feast was over, McGonagall stood once more to address the students.

"I have just a few reminders. The Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students. Also, students must be in their house common rooms by 11pm each night, and finally, no students will be allowed outside the castle after dark. Now, I wish you all success in your magical studies and sweet dreams! Prefects may now lead their houses to the common rooms."

Hermione and Ron stood up to go collect the new first years.

"Alright, then, first years this way, please." Hermione said as she and Ron herded them out of the Great Hall. As they approached the portrait of the fat lady, Hermione turned to Ron. "Okay, well. I guess I'll be going then, unless you need me to help-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he interrupted, "think I can't handle a bunch of first years?"

"No, Ron, that's not what I meant!"

"Whatever, Hermione."

She quickly turned the opposite direction in an attempt to hide her tears, but Ron saw and was immediately ashamed. Hermione ran down to the entrance of the Heads' Dorms, tears streaming down her face.

"Bubble bellied toad snot" She said shakily, and the door swung open to reveal a large room furnished with chairs, sofas, and tables of all varieties. Sprawled out on the nearest sofa, reading a book, was Draco Malfoy. He looked up at the sound of her entrance, but quickly directed his attention back to his book at the sight of her tears. It was odd, she thought. Why hadn't he ridiculed her for crying? Hermione walked up the stairs to find a sign on the first door that read, "Hermione Granger, Head Girl". She took a deep breath and opened the door. In the room, there was a large, four poster bed, a small desk, and a few chairs. Hermione sat on her bed and pulled out her lesson schedule for the next day. Tomorrow, she would have Arithmancy first followed by charms and transfiguration. Hermione packed the necessary books into her bag and changed into her sleep clothes

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><p>The next morning Hermione woke up late and rushed down to breakfast, trying not to think about her little quarrel with Ron the night before. When she got to the Great Hall, Ginny had thankfully saved a seat for her.<p>

"So," Ginny said, "How're the Heads' Dorms?"

"Pretty much the same as yours. I've got my own room now, which is strange."

"What about Malfoy? Is he being horrible?"

"No, actually, it's a bit unusual. Ron and I had a - misunderstanding—last night, and when I came in crying, he didn't even say anything. Not one thing. It's weird."

"Wait—Ron made you cry?"

"Well, yes, but I'd rather not talk about it."

"Wait 'till I get my hands on him!" Ginny said angrily.

"No, Ginny, just forget it. It was nothing."

"I'm so sorry, Hermione"

"Don't be, really, I'm fine." She said, putting on a fake smile.

Ron, Ginny, and Harry all had a free period this morning so they went back to the Gryffindor common room while Hermione headed off to Arithmancy. Hermione arrived 10 minutes before class was supposed to start. Professor Vector wasn't even there yet. About 5 minutes later, students began to file in and take their seats. At the last possible second before class started, Draco Malfoy swaggered into the classroom and found the only empty seat, right next to Hermione. He glanced at her questionably but didn't say anything. Throughout the class period, she could feel his eyes on her repeatedly. At the end of the lesson, Professor Vector handed out blank charts saying, "You will complete this chart for homework in addition to your quarterly project. Now, since we have a completely full class, your partner will be the person sitting next to you." Hermione and Draco glanced at each other. _Great_, she thought, _this ought to be interesting_. After Arithmancy, Hermione had a free period so she headed up to the 7th floor to see Harry and Ron.

As soon as she walked through the portrait hole, she regretted it. In the otherwise empty common room, Harry and Ginny were pressed against the wall, kissing furiously. Hermione gave a small gasp in surprise and quickly turned around. Harry and Ginny broke apart suddenly.

"Sorry!" Hermione exclaimed, "I'll just be going then!"

"Sorry, Hermione," Ginny said quickly, "please stay."

"Well, alright." Hermione turned around to see that harry still had his arms tightly around her. She sat down on the couch looking extremely uncomfortable.

"So, how was your first class as a N.E.W.T. student?" Harry asked, letting go of Ginny and sitting down next to Hermione.

"It was really interesting. I've always loved Arithmancy. I got paired with Malfoy for a project, though."

"Really? When are you going to start it?" Harry continued, trying to distract her from the scene she had just walked in on.

"Probably today after Transfiguration"

"So, you like Arithmancy?" Ginny asked awkwardly

"Yeah, like I said, I've always loved it."

"Well, it's about time for lunch. Want to start heading down to the Great Hall?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, sure" Hermione said in reply.

Harry took Ginny's hand and all three of them headed out of the portrait hole.

"Where's Ron, by the way?" Hermione asked as they walked.

"He's out at the Quidditch pitch, practicing for tryouts." Ginny answered.

"He's really doing well. I reckon no one will even try to beat him in tryouts." Harry added

"Boys and Quidditch..." Hermione mumbled to herself.

"He said he'd meet us for lunch." Ginny said, "I expect he's already there."

Sure enough, when Harry, Ginny, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall, Ron was sitting by himself looking weary. Hermione sighed and sat down next to him. After lunch, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed out of the Great Hall just in time for their Charms lesson with Flitwick. Ginny gave Harry a quick kiss goodbye and turned the opposite direction for her Herbology lesson with Sprout.

For the first time in her life, Hermione could not stay focused during class. Ron glanced at her several times, and each time he did, she felt worse. All the pain on his face was caused by _her._ She did that to him, she thought.

After Charms, the three walked to Transfiguration in painful silence. McGonagall was sitting at her desk scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment. As the rest of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw 7th years wandered into the classroom, the trio sat down at an empty table and pulled out their books.

As McGonagall went on about spells they would be attempting this term, Hermione was thinking about her Arithmancy project that she had to work on with Malfoy. Hopefully he would be in the common room after his last lesson so she wouldn't have to search for him, she thought to herself.

When class was over and McGonagall dismissed them, Harry and Ron went to meet Ginny while Hermione left to find Malfoy. When she entered the Heads' common room, Malfoy was sitting at a small table working quietly on his Arithmancy chart they'd been assigned for homework.

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked timidly. He looked up, slightly startled.

"Hey, Granger" he said mockingly.

"I was wondering if you'd like to work on our project for Arithmancy."

"You mean to tell me you haven't started it yet? Well, Granger, Professor Vector won't be very impressed when you don't turn it in at least a month early." He continued sarcastically.

"Very funny, Malfoy." She added," Why don't we just get it finished so I don't have to worry about working with you anymore."

"You worry about it, do you? Do I intimidate you?" He asked smoothly, getting up from his chair and moving towards her. Hermione gave a small gasp when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her an inch from his face. He laughed menacingly, releasing her and moving back to his chair. "Don't worry, Granger, I would never put the moves on a mudblood." He said.

Hermione tried to ignore his comment as she sat down and pulled out her Arithmancy book, her face burning with embarrassment. They worked in silence for the next hour and a half. Hermione gasped when she realized the time.

"Oh no! I was supposed to meet Harry and Ginny 10 minutes ago for dinner!" Malfoy didn't say anything as she jumped up and ran out the door. She flew up a couple flights of stairs and into the Gryffindor common room where she found Harry and Ginny snuggled up on the sofa and Ron staring blankly into the fire.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Hermione said, catching her breath, "I was working on a project with Malfoy and I lost track of time."

"That's alright; we still have awhile until dinner starts." Ginny said in reply. Hermione sat down in a chair near the sofa and pulled out a book. For the next 15 minutes, they didn't say much. Hermione was concerned about Ron, he hadn't moved since she came in. Finally Harry said, "Well, we'd better get going then." Everyone stood except Ron.

"Ron?" Ginny asked. Ron jumped as though he'd been jerked out of a trance,

"It's time for dinner." Harry continued.

"Right." Ron said distantly. They continued out of the portrait hole and started walking towards the Great Hall. They found their seats at the Gryffindor table and quietly talked amongst themselves.

All through dinner, Hermione couldn't help but notice that Malfoy was no where to be seen. Only Ginny noticed Hermione's constant glances toward the Slytherin table.

"Looking for someone?" Ginny asked, breaking Hermione's thoughts

"Oh, I was just wondering where Malfoy's gotten to. I was with him just 30 minutes ago." Hermione replied.

"He's probably lurking about the castle, being Malfoy."

"Right" Hermione said looking distracted.

After dinner, they all went up to the Gryffindor common room to work on homework for a few hours. Ron, Harry, and Hermione worked on their charms essay while Ginny started her star chart for Divination. At 10:30pm Hermione stood up to leave. She said goodnight to everyone and left the common room quietly. She walked as slowly as possible, for she did not want to have to face her first evening in the same dormitories as Malfoy. She approached the entrance hesitantly, hoping he was already in his room asleep. Finally, she said the password and entered the common room. Hermione was shocked to see a very obviously drunk Draco Malfoy with a large, almost empty, bottle of fire whiskey in his lap, staring into the fire.

"Malfoy! This is a violation of school rules! Your position as head boy will surely be taken from you!" She yelled. He wasn't listening, though. He handed her a piece of paper that he'd been holding. She read over it, her eyes widening. His father had been sent to Azkaban.

"Oh my gosh, Malfoy, I'm so sorry." She said with sympathy.

"No, Granger, I'm sorry" he said getting up from his chair and heading for the stairs.

"Sorry? For what?" She asked in confusion.

He stopped and turned to face her. He looked straight into her chocolate brown eyes and said, "I'm sorry that the last 7 years of your life have been hell because of me. I'm really, truly sorry." He continued to stare at her, his pale eyes filled with sorrow. He turned again and disappeared up the stairs.

Hermione was stunned. Was this really happening? Was she hallucinating? Did Draco Malfoy, king of the prats, really just apologize to her?

She was in a daze. She walked up the stairs to her room, still not able to grasp what had just happened. Hermione couldn't sleep. She felt bad for him, really. His family had been torn apart by Lord Voldemort. What a weird sensation, she thought. She was actually feeling pity for Draco Malfoy.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? I WANT TO KNOW:)<strong>

**Okay, I know this is supposed to be Dramione and there's a whole lot of Hinny in this chapter but don't worry! It's coming:) Chapter 3 is going to take longer than this one soooo expect it in 2-4 days.**

**Remember to review, it motivates me to write faster :P**

**thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 is complete!**

**Okay I know I said this would be finished in 2-4 days and it's been like 5 days so I'm really sorry!**

**anyway, this chapter took me such a long time because I couldn't get the wording right but I finally got it how I want it so enjoy!**

**Tell me what you think! :)**

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><p>Hermione tossed and turned all night. She couldn't believe Draco Malfoy actually had some sort of feeling inside. Was he actually sorry for causing her so much emotional turmoil?<p>

At some point during the night, Hermione finally fell asleep. When she awoke the next morning, she was extremely tired. She dragged herself out of bed and began to dress for her morning classes. Today, Hermione had double potions in the morning with the Slytherins then Herbology and History of Magic both with the Ravenclaws, in the afternoon. She packed her books into her bag and left her room. She didn't see Malfoy, but she could hear him snoring in the room next to hers. She briefly thought about waking him but quickly dismissed the idea, realizing how awkward that would be. So, figuring he could handle himself, Hermione left the Head dormitories to meet Ginny at breakfast.

When she got to the Great Hall, only a few others were there; two Hufflepuffs, 4 Ravenclaws, one Slytherin, and no Gryffindors. She sat down at their usual spot and pulled out a book on the history of Arithmancy. This was one of her favorite things to do. Getting completely lost in a book let her escape from the world for awhile. She was so absorbed in her reading; in fact, she didn't even notice the Great Hall beginning to fill rapidly. Hermione didn't look up until Ginny plopped down beside her and spoke, breaking her trance.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked, "Is everything alright?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine." She replied

"Sorry, you just looked distraught about something."

"Oh, no I'm fine, really"

"So, how was your night?" Ginny inquired

"Strange, actually" Hermione said slowly, glancing towards the Slytherin table.

"Strange? What happened?"

"Well," She started, "last night, Malfoy was upset because his father has been locked up in Azkaban, and he-well he-he kind of…apologized to me. For being such a git for seven years."

"He apologized?" Ginny said in surprise

"Weird, isn't it? He was drunk though, so he most likely wasn't in his right mind."

"Wait, back up, drunk? Draco Malfoy was drunk and you did nothing? I've never seen this side of you!"

"I was going to report him; I swear, I was! But he looked so- so sad. It was like I'd never met him before, like the arrogant prat we're used to never even existed."

"Well where is he now?"

"Sleeping I expect. He was snoring when I left."

"Maybe you'll see him in Potions" Ginny added.

"Yeah, maybe" Hermione said distractedly

After they ate, Harry kissed Ginny goodbye and Hermione, Ron, and he all headed toward Slughorn's classroom. They were the first one's there, so they found seats in the front of the room and settled in. Harry and Ron talked animatedly about upcoming Quidditch trials while Hermione watched the door. Both Slytherins and Gryffindors filed in during the next few minutes. Hermione saw all of Malfoy's "posse" come in and take their seats, but there was no sign of him. Is he alright, she wondered, what if he skips class? That would be a horrible way to start his year as Head Boy. Just then, Slughorn entered the room and everyone fell silent.

"Morning, class" he greeted them, "Today we will be reviewing some old material from your sixth year because I know you may have forgotten a few things."

As Slughorn droned on, Hermione's mind drifted. She kept glancing at the door, wondering where Malfoy could possibly be. After all, Hermione hadn't forgotten anything from first year, let alone some basic 6th year potions skills.

Finally, Potions ended and it was time for lunch. Malfoy was still a no show. Maybe he was just skipping, Hermione thought. He'd be at lunch for sure. When Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Great Hall, mostly everyone was already there. They sat down and ate in silence. Hermione couldn't help but glance at the Slytherin table where Malfoy was still missing. After they'd finished, the trio left the Great Hall and started towards the green houses for their Herbology lesson with the Ravenclaws.  
>When they arrived, Neville and Luna were already there, sitting at a long table holding hands.<p>

"Hi guys," Neville said, "We've saved you a seat. Professor Sprout says this lesson is going to be great!" Neville had a strange love for plants.

The three took their seats and pulled out their Herbology books. When class started, Professor Sprout announced that they would be discussing the uses of flobberworm slime. _Real_ exciting, Neville.

As Professor Sprout talked, Hermione dozed off. She really hadn't gotten enough sleep last night. Finally, Herbology was over, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry had a 20 minute break before History of Magic.

They met Ginny in the courtyards where the boys flew around, practicing Quidditch maneuvers. Ginny and Hermione sat on a nearby bench chatting and watching.

"So, how was Herbology?" Ginny asked

"It was alright, I guess. Kind of boring, actually"

"Any news on Malfoy?"

"No, I'd rather not think about him at the moment."

"Well, we should get going pretty soon. Classes start in five minutes."

Ginny gathered her things and went back inside for her next lesson while Hermione called to Harry and Ron who were still practicing. When they arrived at the History of Magic classroom, it was already mostly full so the three of them couldn't sit together. Hermione told them to go ahead and sit at the last empty table while she found a space next to Lavender Brown, who was severely scarred from her encounter with Fenrir Greyback. When she sat down, Lavender gave her an evil look, filled with hatred. Professor Binns talked about the Salem Witch Trials that happened in America for the entire lesson. Surprisingly, Hermione found it very interesting and could actually pay attention.

After classes were over for the day, the trio headed for the seventh floor to meet Ginny in the common room. They all did homework until it was time for dinner. When they entered the Great Hall, once again Hermione's eyes darted toward the Slytherin table.

"This is getting ridiculous." She said, sitting down next to Ginny.

"What's ridiculous?" Harry asked

"Malfoy hasn't been to any classes or meals today!"

"So? He's probably just ditching."

"Harry, he was drunk last night and his father's back in Azkaban!"

"Why are you worrying so much?" he asked accusingly

"I'm not, it's just that he's Head Boy and should be setting a good example for younger students!"

"Its okay, Hermione, he's just being typical Malfoy." He assured her

Maybe that was the case; maybe she _was_ worrying too much. Hermione said goodnight to Harry, Ron and Ginny after dinner and headed for the Heads' dorms where she would hopefully find Malfoy and confront him about his absence. Just as she had suspected, he was passed out drunk, sprawled out on the sofa with a large bottle of rum at his side. Hermione sighed heavily, feeling frustrated. She sat down at a small table and began to work on their Arithmancy project.

After 2 hours of working alone, Hermione was exhausted. She trudged up the stairs and collapsed onto her bed. She fell asleep right away, not even bothering to take her shoes off.

The next day was no different. Hermione went to all of her classes and kept an eye out for Malfoy, but he was no where to be found. Even the Slytherins were beginning to notice. Hermione was getting slightly worried. Where could he possibly be?

When his absence continued for two more days, Hermione decided that she wasn't going to put up for it any longer. During lunch one day, Hermione told Harry that she wasn't hungry, and left for the Heads' dorms, in search of Malfoy.

When she got there, she was unsurprised to see Malfoy in the common room drinking.

"Malfoy!" she yelled, "This is ridiculous! You haven't been to any classes or meals, and you missed your patrolling time yesterday!"

"Sorry, Granger." He said with no expression

"No! You're not sorry! If you were you'd do something about it!"

He took a large swallow of whatever was in the bottle he wash holding and said, "Can I talk to you for a minute, Granger?"

"About what, exactly?" she asked angrily

"Please calm down and let me talk."

"Fine, but make it quick."

"Okay," he started, "Well, first of all, my mother's in St. Mungos. She's gone off the deep end, I think. Probably missing my father. Anyway that's not what I wanted to say." He paused for a moment, "I wanted to say that even though I was drunk, I was serious when I apologized."

"Okay, apology accepted. I'll be going then."

"Wait, Granger, I'm not finished. You know, I don't think I ever really hated muggleborns like you, or maybe I did, I don't know. But the point is, I don't feel like I need to please my father anymore. So, basically, what I'm asking for is your forgiveness. Not only for hurting you, but also for discriminating against all muggleborns." He saw the look of utter shock on her face and paused.

"Um…wow, that was…unexpected. I- I don't understand, really. Mind explaining?"

"Look, my father taught me to hate muggleborns, but that's not me. Not anymore. I know it's not right and I'd really appreciate your forgiveness- if that's possible..."

"Well- um- I guess, yeah, sure" she said awkwardly

"Thanks, Granger." He looked away uncomfortably, drinking from his bottle again.

"You really shouldn't be doing that, you know! You could be expelled!"

"I know"

"Then why?"

"Because I can"

"You're ridiculous!" she said turning away angrily

"Wait-"he said suddenly catching her arm and pulling her into a tight hug. Hermione was startled by his sudden closeness, and pulled away from him quickly.

"What was that for?" she asked

"I- I'm sorry- I didn't mean to- sorry, I just- I don't know." He quickly turned and walked up the stairs.

Hermione slowly backed out of the room, into the 5th floor corridor.

What. Just. Happened.

Hermione walked slowly back to the Great Hall, completely unaware of her surroundings. She sat down next to Harry and opened a book, pretending to read.

"Hermione?" he asked, "where were you?"

"Oh, I just had to get something from my dorm." She a little to quickly

"Are you okay? You seem…jumpy"

"What? No, I'm perfectly fine." She said, turning back to her book

"Alright, I guess"

Hermione still couldn't process what had just happened moments ago. Two apologies and a hug from Draco Malfoy in the course of a week, it was completely absurd!

Well, now that she thought about it, he was rather muscular…no, no he wasn't. What was she thinking?

Harry, Ron and Ginny were all staring at her with curious expressions. After they ate and Hermione finished her book, they left for their last lesson of the day. They had potions again with the Slytherins. Hermione had no doubt that Malfoy would be absent again. Throughout the lesson, she concentrated on helping Ron and Harry brew their potions, trying not to think about Malfoy.

When class was over, they all went up to the Gryffindor common room for their free period. Not wanting to work, they played a tournament of wizard chess.

Hermione usually won every game, but today her concentration was elsewhere. The rest of the night was uneventful. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione went to dinner at 7pm and then to the library to work on homework. At 10 o'clock, Harry, Ron and Ginny went back to Gryffindor Tower while Hermione headed for the 5th floor. She hoped Malfoy would already be sleeping, for she did not want another encounter like the one they'd had that afternoon.

When she entered the common room, it was thankfully empty. She put her things down on the sofa and headed up to her room. When she got to the top of the stairs she paused. She could hear the soft, peaceful sounds of Draco sleeping. Shaking her head, she entered her room and changed into her sleep clothes. It was awhile before Hermione finally drifted to sleep.

The next day, Hermione was sure Malfoy would be at his lessons, but she was wrong. Now she was just irritated.

At dinner that night, Hermione sat across from Harry, making him look up from his food.

"Have you noticed?" she asked

"Noticed what? Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. But Malfoy, he hasn't left the Heads' dorms in nearly a week!"

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked.

"I don't really know. It's like he's a whole different person."

"I bet McGonagall is going to fire him as Head Boy pretty soon."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that, I mean the teachers must be noticing, right?"

"Yes, well, don't do anything rash, Hermione. McGonagall will handle it." Harry added

"Yes, I know. It's just, well, I've been covering all his patrolling shifts and it's getting in the way of everything else."

"Try not to worry."

"Thanks, Harry"

The next couple of days were no different. Everyday Hermione would look for him and everyday she was unsurprised to find that he was completely absent. Then at 10pm every night, she would return to the Heads' common room to find Malfoy passed out on the floor with a bottle beside him.

Hermione knew how much he was missing so she told all the teachers that he wasn't feeling well and she collected his assignments. Every evening after dinner, Hermione took his homework upstairs and slid it under his bedroom door. She knew he wasn't doing it though. She often found the charred remains of the assignments in the fire place.

Hermione was thinking she should talk to McGonagall soon, for she was sick of trying to help him and picking up his patrolling shifts.

"I'll give him another three days to sort out his problems, and then I'm definitely going to McGonagall." She told Harry and Ginny one morning at breakfast.

Hermione didn't need three days. That afternoon, after transfiguration, McGonagall held her back.

"Miss Granger, are you aware of what's going on with Mr. Malfoy?"

"Well, Professor, I know that his father is back in Azkaban, probably for life, and his mother is in St. Mungos. I also know he's been skipping classes and patrolling shifts." She left out the part about the alcohol.

"I see, well, I'll be having a talk with him this evening about his duties. Also, Miss Granger, I would like you to help him with the material he's missed, if you will."

"Yes, Professor, I'll get right on it."

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes?"

"Is there something you would like to ask me?"

"No- well, actually I was wondering about one thing…"

"Go on"

"I'm not trying to question your judgment, but why'd you choose him? Why not Harry, or anyone else for that matter?"

"Well, first of all, I figured Mr. Potter is getting tired of the lime light. I believe he would like to lie low for awhile, and why Draco? Well, because of you."

"Sorry, I'm not following" Hermione said confused

"Miss Granger, I do not wish to see Mr. Malfoy end up like his father. I believe that you can influence him a bit, set a good example, and maybe get him on the right track. If he can learn to work with and accept you, I think he may turn out alright."

"Thank you, Professor, I'll do my best, but I don't know how much influence I really have over him."

"Well, have a good evening Miss Granger, thank you for your help." McGonagall smiled at her and left the classroom.

Great, she thought, another thing she had to worry about. Babysitting Malfoy, _this _should be interesting.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? I WANT TO KNOW :P<strong>

**Hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter will be up ASAP! so expect 4-6 ish days depending on how fast I write... and type.**

**I have exciting things planned for chapter 4! so stay tuned:)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I don't own these characters ( except for the random names you don't recognize)**

**Chapter 4 is finally done. I'm sorry this took so long. I was sick for 3 days this past week so I wasn't really up for writing.**

**Anyway I've decided to change the rating to T because of the alcohol references and such (which I should have done in Chapter 3)**

**I'm going out of town so Chapter 5 won't be done for like a week maybe.**

**Review if want :) enjoy! **

* * *

><p>After her conversation with McGonagall, Hermione went to find Malfoy. He was in his usual spot, drinking his problems away.<p>

"Malfoy, McGonagall wants to see you."

"What for?" he asked

"I think it's about your attendance, but I'm not totally sure."

"Dammit" he muttered under his breath. He took one last gulp from his bottle and left the common room.

When he returned, Hermione was working diligently on her History of Magic essay.

"So I'm guessing Professor McGonagall told you that I'm supposed to tutor you?"

"Yeah, she told me."

"Well, let's get to work then."

"Granger, can we start tomorrow. McGonagall also reminded me that I'm Quidditch captain this year and I need to set up a time for trials."

"Fine, but we're starting tomorrow and you might want to consider attending classes soon"

"You don't need to worry about me, Granger. I can handle myself." He said turning around and disappearing up the stairs. Hermione continued to work through out the evening until she was completely exhausted.

The next day, Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast to find Malfoy sitting at the Slytherin table, reading a book like he'd never been absent. She sat down beside Ron with a sigh.

"I see Malfoy's back." Ginny said

"Yeah, I think McGonagall had a good talk with him." Hermione filled them in with the previous evening's events.

"Well now that you're tutoring him, he'd better start taking his shifts!" Ron added. This was the first thing he'd said to Hermione in weeks. She looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, I suppose so." She said. There was an awkward pause.

"So, Hermione, are you going to come watch Quidditch trials this afternoon?" Harry asked, trying to break the tension.

"Yeah, sure. I'd love to cheer for Ginny and Ron."

Ron glanced at her questioningly.

"Great," Ginny added, "well, we'd better hurry; lessons will be starting pretty soon."

They finished their breakfast in silence and then left for their morning classes. Hermione had Arithmancy so she said goodbye to the rest of them and then headed in the opposite direction.

In Arithmancy, Professor Vector told the class that they could use the hour to work on their projects and that it was due next class. Malfoy came over to Hermione's table and sat down.

"So," he said, "how far have you gotten?"

"Well, I actually haven't done much with it at all because I've been taking double patrolling shifts for you and gathering all your assignments that you throw in the fire anyway. Plus I have my own work to keep up with, so _I'm_ sorry, it's completely my fault!"

He looked at her wearily, "I'm sorry about that, Granger. I really am. Thank you for taking my shifts. I wasn't in my right mind."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore let's just get this project finished."

For the remainder of the hour, Hermione and Draco worked quietly. When class was over Hermione turned to him again.

"Do you have a free period today after lunch?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, good, we'll start then."

"Start what exactly?"

"Tutoring! You're so thick sometimes, Malfoy."

"Right, well I'll see you then, I guess."

"In the library,"

"Fine," he said turning on his heel and stalking out of the room.

Hermione left to meet Harry and Ron for Charms with the 7th year Hufflepuffs.

After Charms was over and Hermione had eaten a quick lunch with Ginny she gathered her things and headed for the library.

She sat down at a long, empty table and pulled a few books out of her bag. When Draco arrived, he took the seat across from her and pulled out his own books.  
>"I think we should start with Ancient Runes since you've missed the most in that class." She said<p>

"Alright, fine by me."

When Hermione had finished teaching him all the new rune symbols, they packed up their things and left the library.

That afternoon, Hermione walked out to the Quidditch pitch to watch the Gryffindor tryouts. She found a seat next to Parvarti Patil, who was talking rapidly to Lavender Brown. They watched as the players zoomed through the sky, running drills. Harry was slightly higher than the others, watching from above. After awhile they started the scrimmage game.

Ron was playing keeper while Ginny and a couple fifth years were trying to score on him. He really was getting better; he didn't let them score once.

When Harry had finished evaluating everyone, he announced who had made the team. Ron was standing alone looking extremely nervous.

"Okay everyone, I think I've decided on the team this year. The Beaters will be Kayden Sparks and Nathaniel Parr. The Chasers will be Dean Thomas, Katarina Hopkins, and Ginny Weasley. The Keeper will be Ron Weasley-"

"That's rubbish! He's your best friend and his she-weasel sister is your girlfriend!" shouted a fifth year named Kevin Wagner

"Well, if I remember correctly, Ron blocked every shot that came at him and you missed two. And for you information, Wagner, you were my second choice for the position, so keep your mouth shut." Harry said, glaring at Wagner. There was a long awkward pause. "Anyway," Harry continued, "Thank you all for trying out and those who did make the team, there will be a strategy meeting this Friday at 4:00pm in the Gryffindor locker room. Alright, any questions?" he waited, "no? Well, okay then I hope you all have a good evening."

With that, everyone began to disperse, walking off the Quidditch field. Harry walked over to Ginny and took her hand. They left the field together with Ron close behind.

Hermione met them in the Great Hall for dinner 20 minutes later.

"Congratulations, Ron! You too Ginny! You were both brilliant!"

"Thanks, Hermione" Ginny said

"Yeah, thanks" Ron added awkwardly

"I can't believe that Wagner boy. Ron was obviously much better." Hermione said importantly

"I know. He blocked every single shot. Even those thrown by Ginny!" Harry said, nudging his girlfriend. Ron and Ginny blushed identical shades of pink.

After dinner, Hermione went to the Heads' common room to work on her project with Malfoy. He was already there rummaging around in a small refrigerator in the corner of the common room. Hermione watched as he pulled out a bottle of fire whiskey and popped it open.

"I really should report you, you know. You could be expelled." She said calmly

"We've gone over this, Granger. You don't need to worry about me."

"How are you getting it anyway?"

"Why? Do you want some? I know how to share."

"No, I don't. But seriously, where are you getting it from?"

"House elves. They're quite fond of my actually."

"What? You're making those poor elves smuggle booze into the castle for you?"

"I'm not _making_ them do anything. I simply ask and they usually comply."

"It's still wrong. They could get fired!"

"Fine, whatever, lets just start working." He said, taking a swig of fire whiskey.

They worked until their project was completely finished and the bottle was ¾ empty. Draco stumbled up the stairs, drunk as always, while Hermione packed up both of their things.

Over the next few weeks, Hermione continued to tutor Malfoy. She didn't see much of Harry, Ginny or Ron because they ere all working really hard to prepare for the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin. Ron and Malfoy were both missing many patrolling shifts because of practices and Hermione was overwhelmed with trying to fill in for them. In the evenings, Hermione and Draco continued their work, which Draco was catching on to easily.

The first match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, was approaching quickly, so it was hard for Hermione to find the time to tutor Malfoy.

On the morning of the match, Hermione met Ginny and the others for breakfast. Harry was talking rapidly to the rest of the team, giving them last minute pointers. Ron looked more nervous than anyone else, even though he'd already proven himself in 6th year. Hermione sat down quietly and opened a book.

When Harry finished his impromptu meeting, he turned to Ron and whispered, "Stop worrying, you'll be brilliant, I know it. You've worked harder than anyone else on this team."

"Thanks, Harry." Ron said, taking a sip of orange juice. He still looked nervous.

When they finished breakfast, Harry, Ron and Ginny got up to leave. Hermione wished them good luck and headed for the stands.

When she got to the Quidditch pitch, she found Luna and Neville and took a seat.

"So," Neville said, "Do you know any new Slytherin tactics they might be using?"

"No, why would I?" Hermione asked

"Well, I just thought maybe you heard something. You are sharing dormitories with the Captain, aren't you?"

"Oh, well yes, but we don't really interact other than for Heads' duties and school work."

"Right, well Gryffindor is going to be spectacular this year I've watched them practice." Neville added

They fell silent as the stands began to fill and the players walked on to the field. Madame Hooch carried a large trunk containing the balls on to the field. She set it down and began to explain the rules, although everyone already knew them. Finally she asked the Captains to shake hands to start the game. Harry and Malfoy walked forward reluctantly. They shook hands firmly and returned to their positions behind their teams.

"On my mark," said Madame Hooch, "1….2….3!" She kicked the trunk open and threw the Quaffle into the air. The bludgers and the snitch shot into the sky along with all fourteen players.

Ginny caught the Quaffle and tossed it to Katarina. She weaved around the Slytherins with ease and shot it perfectly into the goal.

"10 to 0…Gryffindor!" the announcer shouted over the speaker, "Dean Thomas has got the Quaffle, heading back to the Slytherin side….."

Meanwhile Harry and Draco were both circling the others in search of the snitch. Down below, Ginny and Dean had both scored, leaving the game at 30 to 0 for Gryffindor. The Slytherin team just wasn't on the same level of skill as the Gryffindors. Soon the score was 70 to 0, then 120 to 0. Their hard work had definitely paid of, plus Ron couldn't have been doing a better job. Every shot made by the Slytherin chasers was perfectly blocked. Harry and Draco were still searching and keeping an eye on each other.

Suddenly, Harry caught sight of the snitch and shot upward, Draco right on his tail. They climbed higher and higher. Until, out of nowhere, a bludger collided with Draco right in the chest and he was knocked off his broom.

He fell rapidly, gaining speed. As he got closer to the ground, gasps were heard through out the stands. All of a sudden, Hermione stood and yelled, "Impedimenta!" pointing her wand at Malfoy's flailing unconscious body. He slowed but still hit the ground with great force.

Teachers fled from their seats, rushing towards him, while the students remained seated, completely shocked. Harry then came soaring down from the clouds with a look of triumph and the snitch clasped in his fist. When he saw Malfoy, his smile faded. He rushed to the ground where McGonagall was furiously trying to heal him and get him to the hospital wing. Hermione came sprinting from the stands, a look of panic on her face.

"Oh god! Is he alright? Did that spell work at all?"

"Oh, yes Miss Granger. If you hadn't slowed him down, he would be dead." McGonagall answered, "And Mr. Potter, did you see what happened up there?"

"No, I didn't see anything. One minute he was right on my tail and the next, I had the snitch." Harry replied looking concerned.

"Alright, well please go inform Madame Pomfrey that there's been a serious Quidditch accident and that we're bringing him up. She'll need to prepare a bed for him."

Later that afternoon, Hermione left the Gryffindor common room to visit Malfoy in the hospital wing. There were only a few others when she arrived. She walked over to his bed where he was sleeping peacefully.

Hermione sat down in the chair beside his bed and wrote a note that read, "Malfoy, I came by this afternoon but you were sleeping, so I'll be back after dinner to continue your tutoring. –Hermione Granger"

She left the note beside his bed and met Harry and Ginny back in the Gryffindor common room.

"So, how is he?" Ginny asked as Hermione sat down next to her.

"Alright, I think. I didn't actually talk to him though, he was asleep."

"I wonder why that bludger was so high. They usually don't go above the pitch more than 100 feet." Harry added.

"Well al least he's not dead." Hermione said pulling some homework out of her bag. They worked quietly until it was time for dinner.

After they had eaten dinner and Harry, Ron and Ginny left for the Quidditch practice, Hermione picked up some books from the Heads' dorms and headed for the hospital wing. When she arrived, she saw Narcissa Malfoy perched on Draco's bed holding his hand and talking quietly.

"You must be Miss Granger," Narcissa said as Hermione approached the bed.

"Yes, ma'am. I was just bringing Malfoy- I mean Draco- some work. I've been tutoring him, you see-"

"Yes, yes I know. Well I best be going then." She said turning to Malfoy, "I'll see you soon, Draco. Please get some rest." Narcissa hugged him goodbye and left quickly.

"I thought your mother was in St. Mungos." Hermione said to Malfoy once Narcissa was out of earshot.

"Yeah, she _was_," He replied. There was an awkward pause.

"Well anyway, I've brought some potions assignments that we haven't gotten to yet, if you'd like to work on them."

"Yeah, sure"

They worked for awhile, not saying much, until Malfoy announced that he was tired and needed to go back to sleep.

Hermione packed her things and stood to leave.

"Hey, Granger?" Malfoy said, sitting up in his bed, "Thanks for saving my life, and for everything else you've done for me."

Hermione stared at him, slightly confused, "Yeah sure, no problem," she said

He stood up, walked over to her and stopped two inches from her face. Hermione stared into his icy, pale eyes; She could feel her cheeks burning. All of a sudden, Malfoy reached out and pulled her face to his, crushing their lips together.

The kiss didn't last long. Hermione pulled away from him, trying to catch her breath. She didn't get a chance to ask him why he'd just kissed her because Ron and Harry had entered the hospital wing.

"Oi!" Ron shouted, drawing his wand, "You keep your hands off her, you filthy ferret!"

"What the hell, Hermione. What are you doing?" Harry asked

"Nothing, nothing, I was just brining Malfoy some work!"

"Rubbish!" Ron said, pointing his wand at Malfoy and shouting, "Stupefy!"

Malfoy flew backward on to the floor and hit his head on the concrete.

"Ron! He's injured, you moron!" Hermione shouted angrily.

"Sorry, I didn't realize he was you new boyfriend!"

"Ronald, he's not my boyfriend" she said calmly, trying to heave Malfoy on to the bed.

"He seems to think so!" Ron shouted, turning around and storming out of the room.

"Would you help me Harry? He's heavier than he looks."

Harry and Hermione pulled Malfoy on to the bed and turned to leave. They walked in uncomfortable silence until Harry finally spoke.

"So, is he? Your boyfriend, I mean." He asked

"What? No, he's not" she answered, her face burning red.

"Then why were you kissing him?"

"I wasn't/ He kissed me and don't ask me why because I have no idea."

"Then why-"

"Harry," she interrupted, "I honestly don't want to talk about this."

"Alright, sorry"

"Goodnight, Harry"

"'night Hermione"

They walked in opposite directions, Hermione to the Heads' Dorms, Harry to Gryffindor tower.

Hermione couldn't sleep at all that night. She kept replaying the scene over and over in her head. Did he _fancy_her? she thought to herself. No he couldn't. He's despised her for so long. There was no way that Draco Malfoy actually liked her, was there?

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? Please Tell Me :)<strong>

**In chapter 5 I'm planning on focusing on Draco more so it should be interesting. Again, I'm sorry for the wait, I'll try to write faster for you.**

**Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I know you all probably hate me because I haven't updated this story in literally 2 whole weeks but I'm really really really sorry**

**I've been sooo busy and this chapter was really hard for me to write and took soo much editing.**

**Anyway, here it is. let me know what you think :P**

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><p>Once Ron's hex had worn off, Draco lay awake in the hospital wing. He couldn't sleep. Why did he do it? He thought to himself. He did not fancy her. No way, that would just complicate things further. Draco didn't want to think about it anymore. He tried to block it out, relaxing his muscles in an attempt to fall asleep.<p>

Nothing was working, he just couldn't stop. Her warm, rosy lips tasted like sunshine and her porcelain skim felt like silk….Quit it! He told himself. This was just something that happened in the heat of the moment. It didn't mean anything.

Draco struggled with this until he finally fell asleep, but his dreams weren't much different.

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><p>Draco didn't see Hermione the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that. She'd had some first year delivering his homework. Draco was grateful for her absence. After all, how was he supposed to explain the kiss to her if he didn't even really understand it himself?<p>

The days dragged on and on until Madame Pompfrey finally released him from the hospital wing. Draco could no longer avoid Hermione. He ate breakfast in the hospital and then left for Arithmancy.

* * *

><p>As usual, he was the last one to get to class although this time was on purpose. He was trying to avoid seeing Hermione for as long as possible. Draco took the last empty seat, which was thankfully, not next to her, and settled in for class. As Professor Vector lectured the class, Draco drifted into sleep. He didn't wake up until the Slytherin girl next to him woke him and said that class was over. Draco remained seated and watched everyone leave the room. He accidently caught Hermione's eye and they both looked away quickly.<p>

The days continued like this. They passed each other in the corridors, they saw each other in the common room and at prefect's meetings but they didn't talk to one another. Not one single word.

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><p>One day at lunch, Draco was staring at nothing, his mind completely blank, when a 6th year Slytherin boy broke his trance.<p>

"What's wrong with you, Malfoy?" he asked

"Shut up, I'm fine." Draco replied

The boy turned away, but Blaise Zabini, Draco's best friend, caught his attention again.

"You have been acting really weird, Draco" Blaise said, looking concerned

"What are you talking about, Blaise? I'm not acting weird at all."

"Whatever. I was just trying to help."

"Well don't"

Draco stood and stalked out of the Great Hall. He could feel their eyes on him the whole way. He went to the Heads' common room and crashed on the couch. He slept for the rest of lunch and through his next class.

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><p>Draco started drinking and skipping more classes over the next two weeks. He still hadn't spoken to Hermione, or anyone else for that matter, until one Monday evening, Draco left his room to get some food from the kitchen.<p>

He was walking along the fifth floor corridor when he turned a corner suddenly and ran right into Harry, Ginny and Hermione. Draco and Hermione stared at each other awkwardly. Harry looked at Hermione, then at Draco and quickly made an excuse to leave them alone, pulling Ginny along with him.

Draco looked at the floor, muttered an apology and tried to step around her.

"Wait, Malfoy" she said, "you owe me an explanation."

He stopped and looked at her, "I don't owe you anything." He replied turning around and stalking down the corridor that he'd just come from.

"Wait!" She called after him. He stopped again and slowly turned back towards her.

"What do you want, Granger?"

"Please?" she asked. "Please just explain it to me. I'll leave you alone if you just tell me why you kissed me."

"Granger," he started, "I honestly don't know. It was just a stupid kiss. It didn't mean anything, so just forget about it." With that, Draco turned once more and disappeared around a corner.

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><p>The days dragged on and turned into weeks. Draco couldn't help but notice little things about Hermione; the way her hair bounced when she walked, the way her eyes looked when she was lost in a book, her smooth, flawless skin…. Maybe he did fancy her, he thought to himself.<p>

I mean who wouldn't? She is so smart and sweet, and GORGEOUS, not to mention she's pretty bad ass; she helped take down Lord Voldemort!

* * *

><p>The semester was coming to an end and Draco knew he had to do something about Hermione. He had to tell her before she spent Christmas with Weasel- King and forgot about him.<p>

But how? How could he tell her? What would she say? What if she didn't like him back? Would it make things worse? Draco finally decided that he would seek help from either Harry or Ginny but definitely not Ron.

Over the next few days Draco tried to catch Harry or Ginny alone but it was nearly impossible. They were always with each other or with Hermione.

Finally, one day after potions, Harry stayed back to talk with Slughorn while Hermione and Ron left the classroom. Draco waited outside the door for Harry to finish talking with the Professor. Suddenly, Harry opened the door and ran into Draco.

"Sorry" Draco said quietly

"Um, yeah that's alright"

"Can I talk to you for a second, Potter?"

"What for?"

It's- it's about Granger"

"Her name is Hermione"

"Whatever, are you going to help me or not?"

"That depends on what you want."

"Look, Potter, I'm sorry for being such a prick in the past, but it's different now."

"Would you just tell me what you want from me?"

"Well, as you know, Granger and I-"

"I told you to call her Hermione." Harry interrupted

"Fine! Hermione and I," he liked the way her name sounded on his lips, "Well um- we kissed- well I kissed her but-"

"Please get to the point, Malfoy." Harry interrupted again

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I think I've come to- well, I think maybe- it's possible that I may…fancy her. And I don't know what to do."

Harry burst out in a hysterical fit of laughter.

"You?" he asked between laughs, "You fancy Hermione? This has got to be a joke. You've hated her since day one!"

"Shut up! Stop laughing, this isn't funny!" Draco yelled, "It's not a joke! I'm trying to be serious here!"

Harry stopped laughing abruptly.

"You're actually serious?" Harry asked

"Yes! I've said that already!"

"Okay, so you fancy Hermione, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, do you know if she likes me? Can you talk to her for me?"

"Look, Malfoy, I don't know but even if I did, do you really think I would betray Ron like that?"

"Please, Potter?" Draco pleaded, "Just talk to her."

"and say what?"

"Just tell her to meet me in the astronomy tower tonight at 10pm."

"I don't have a good feeling about this. You better not mess with her or I'll be after you!"

"I'm not messing around! Please just tell her that!"

"Fine," Harry said as he began to walk away

"Wait, Potter" Draco said suddenly. Harry turned to look at him

"What now?"

"Thank you"

Harry nodded and turned to leave

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><p>Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, chatting, when Harry came in looking confused. He sat down next to Ginny and put his arm around her.<p>

"What's wrong?"

"I just had a very strange encounter with Malfoy."

"What did he say?" Hermione asked

"It was about you actually," Harry started, "He asked me to tell you to meet him in the Astronomy tower at 10pm tonight."

"Really? Why?"

"Umm," Harry hesitated, "maybe it's best if you heard it from him."

"Harry! Just tell me!" Hermione said, getting annoyed

"Alright, alright, I think it's about- um you know the- uh- the kiss."

"What kiss?" Ginny asked

"You didn't tell her, Hermione?" Harry said angrily

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Hermione said, "I just wanted to forget about it."

"I still don't know what we're talking about here." Ginny said confused

"The day Malfoy got hurt, I went to the hospital wing to give him some work and he kissed me."

"What? You told Harry but not me?"

"No, no! That's not how it is! Harry and Ron kind of- well they walked into the hospital wing just as it happened. Trust me, I'd rather they not know about it."  
>"And how's Ronald taking this?" Ginny asked<p>

"He hasn't spoken to me in weeks."

"I don't blame him, Hermione! You betrayed him! You betrayed all three of us!"

"Ginny, I didn't kiss him! He kissed me!"

"Hermione, you've put him through a lot, but this is different. You've gone too far this time. One boy can only take so much heartbreak." Ginny stood up and stomped angrily up the stairs. Harry turned to Hermione, who was now in tears.

"Hermione, please don't cry. She doesn't know what she's saying. I'll go talk to her."

"No, Harry, she's right. I've been horrible to him."

"Ron's just sensitive right now, he'll get over it."

"I hope so"

"So, are you going to go?"

"go where?"

"To the Astronomy tower at 10pm?"

"I suppose"

"Please be careful with him, Hermione, I don't trust him."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Right, well, I'd better go talk to Ginny then"

"Thanks"

"Anytime" Harry said getting up and heading toward Ginny's dorm room.

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><p>That evening, Hermione went down to the Great Hall alone. Harry hadn't come down from the girls' dorms yet so she figured she'd meet them there.<p>

Hermione was the first one there. She pulled out a book and waited for the others. When they finally showed up 15 minutes later, Hermione put her book down and turned to Ginny.

"Gin, I'm really sorry. You were right."

"No, Hermione, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up at you. I know you didn't mean to upset Ron."

"Thanks"

"I mean, I know how it feels. You think you love someone one day and the next it feels all wrong." Ginny said glancing at Dean Thomas who was absorbed in a separate conversation.

"Seriously, Gin, don't worry about it. I'll be fine and I think Ron will be too."

"Right, well, what do you think Malfoy wants tonight?"

"I honestly don't know and I really would rather not talk about it right now." Hermione said.

After dinner, they met Ron in the library and worked on homework. Ron was clearly struggling with a transfiguration essay but refused to ask Hermione for help.

At 9:30, Harry, Ron and Ginny went up to Gryffindor tower while Hermione gathered her things to meet Malfoy in the Astronomy tower.

Malfoy hadn't gotten there yet when Hermione arrived. She put her bag down on the floor and went over to the window; she was starting to get nervous. After 10 long minutes, Malfoy finally showed up.

"Grang- I mean, Hermione?"

"Y- Yes?" she stammered

"Um- how are you?" he asked, unsure of what he was going to say to her

" Fine, you?"

"I'm alright"

"Good, good"

There was an awkward silence between them

"Malfoy, why did you want to meet me here?" Hermione asked

"Well, first of all, I'm sorry for avoiding you for the past 2 months. I was wrong and I do owe you a lot. You've helped me so much." He paused, "I understand it now. I wasn't sure what it was before, but now I get it. I think maybe- well, I think I've maybe developed really strong feelings for you. I don't think I've ever felt this way before." He stepped towards her and took her hand.

"I don't get it," Hermione said, "You hate me. You've always hated me."

"It's different now. I'm different. I've changed I promise."

"How is this possible?"

"Please, just trust me." He said quietly. Draco pulled her close and kissed her softly on the lips. She tried to pull away but he locked his arms around her. She couldn't help it anymore; She kissed him back hungrily.

Finally, he released her and stared into her chocolatey eyes, smiling triumphantly.

"I can't do this, Malfoy." Hermione said squirming out of his arms and grabbing her things, "I have to go, I'm sorry."

"Wait, Hermione, please don't leave" he pleaded

"I'm sorry" she said again and hurried out the door

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><p>Draco stayed in the Astronomy tower for awhile, just thinking. What did he do wrong? He'd never been rejected before. It was probably the Weasel's fault.<p>

Finally, at about 1:30am, Draco went back to the Heads' dorms, but he couldn't sleep. Everyone would be leaving for Christmas in the morning and he wouldn't be able to talk to her until she got back.

This was going to be a long Christmas after all.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? I want to know :)<strong>

**Thanks for all the reviews so far. Tell me what you think about this one!**

**I'm on Spring Break so Chapter 6 should be up soon. exciting things are coming for this story!**

**Stay tuned!**

**(I give you permission to yell at me for taking so long with this chapter)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 complete! read, review, ENJOY! :)**

**I do not own these characters**

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><p>The train back to London left from Hogsmeade station at 11am the next morning. Harry and Hermione were both spending Christmas with the Weasley's because they both didn't have families to go home to. The whole ride back to King's Cross Station, Hermione could not focus on her surroundings. How could this have happened? Draco Malfoy liked her? And why had she kissed him back? She couldn't fancy him. No way. That would completely destroy Ron.<p>

Harry and Ginny could tell that something was up by the look on Hermione's face. However, they never got a chance to ask her about the Astronomy tower because Ron was always around.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Weasley called Ron and Ginny into the kitchen to help her which left Harry and Hermione alone in the sitting room.

"So," Harry started, "what happened in the Astronomy tower?"

"Um," Hermione hesitated, "well- uh- Malfoy um- he uh- he told me that he- uh- he fancies me." She stuttered

"Yeah, I kind of knew that already."

"And he kissed me… again"

"What? Just wait until I get my hands on him! He'll regret that he ever step foot in Hogwarts!"

"Harry, you're not going to hurt anyone. You'll just get yourself expelled!"

"I don't care! He's a sneaky little ferret who needs to be put in his place!"

"Stop it! You're not helping the situation by making threats!"

"Why are you defending him, Hermione? What? Do you have a thing for him now?"

"No," Hermione said shyly, her cheeks burning red. She thought of his piercing, icy blue- gray eyes and his brilliant blond hair, his tall, lean stature….

"Hermione," Harry said, bringing her back to reality.

"What?"

"I don't think you should trust him. I mean, why did he change all of a sudden?"

"Harry, I don't know. I don't want to talk about it." She said

"But Hermione-" he stopped mid sentence. Ron and Ginny had reentered the room.

"What did we miss?" Ginny asked

"Nothing much" Harry answered, pulling her down next to him and putting his arm around her. After dinner, Harry and Ginny went down to the pond, so Ron and Hermione were left alone.

"Hermione?" Ron said, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Um, yeah sure" she replied. They walked outside and sat down in the grass.

"So, um- how have you been?" Ron asked

"Great, thanks"

"Good," he paused, "So- uh- I just want to say that, um- well- I'm- I'm over it. I know you just want to be friends, and I'm okay with that. I just want you to be happy."

"Really? Oh, thank you, thank you, Ron! I'm so sorry. I've been awful and you don't deserve it. I'm so, so sorry!"

"It's alright. I haven't been very understanding, myself. I mean, if you want to be with Malfoy, then I guess we'll have to live with it, even if the mere thought of him makes me want to smash a pile of bricks."

"What?" she asked. "You think- no no no no it's not like that at all. Malfoy and I aren't- no not at all."

"Oh, sorry. I just thought since, well you-"

"Yeah, that. That was nothing, I swear." There was a long silence between them.

"Well, um, it's getting dark. We should go in." Ron said

"Right," Hermione agreed

They went back inside and helped Mrs. Weasley and George with the dishes. Soon, Harry and Ginny came back from the pond, walking hand in hand. They all hung out for a bit in the living room and then went to bed early.

Hermione tossed and turned all night. The little noises throughout the house kept her up; the clock ticking, the mice darting across the floor, Ginny getting out of bed to go snog Harry in some dark corner.

Finally, in the early hours of the morning, Hermione fell asleep.

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><p>The next day was Christmas morning, and everyone had presents at the end of their beds.<p>

Hermione got books from Harry and Ron, a sweater from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, a dress from Ginny, a necklace with matching earrings from Bill and Fleur, and from George, a box of Weasley Wizard Wheezes and an encyclopedia of modern day magic. At the bottom of her pile of presents was a little box with a letter attached to it. The front of the envelope read, "To Hermione Granger" in lean, slanted cursive writing. It was sealed with a Hogwarts crest. McGonagall? Hermione thought. But no, it was from Draco Malfoy. Hermione read over the letter several times:

"Hermione,

I know you aren't very happy with me right now, but I just want to thank you for listening to me. You can deny it all you want but we both know that there was something in that kiss. Something more than lust. Can we talk about it when you get back?

Enjoy your gift, Merry Christmas.

-D. L. G. Malfoy"

Hermione set down the letter and stared at the little box in her hand. She sighed and opened it. Inside was a thin, silver bracelet with a single, diamond charm, shaped like a heart. It was so beautiful, she had butterflies. She lifted it from the small box and put it on her wrist.

Why, she thought, why was he doing this to her? He was making it really hard to dislike him. Hermione hid the letter in her trunk so Ginny wouldn't see it, but she kept the bracelet on.

Both girls headed down stairs where everyone was hugging and thanking each other for their gifts. Hermione decided to keep Draco's gift a secret, it was just easier that way.

Christmas was mostly uneventful. Most of the surviving members of The Order of the Phoenix came to the burrow for dinner, along with Rubeus Hagrid. Some old Weasley relatives also showed up. Seeing all these people was great, but Hermione really missed her parents. Hopefully she'd be with them by next Christmas.

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><p>The days following Christmas were a blur. Hermione could not get Draco off her mind, and she was still wearing the bracelet. She knew she'd felt something that night in the Astronomy tower, but honestly, she didn't want to admit that Malfoy was right.<p>

But what did this mean for her? So, she did fancy him a tiny bit, but she couldn't act on it, could she? What would Ginny think? And Ron! He would think she had lied to him on Christmas Eve. But- she did lie, didn't she? Hermione was more confused now than she was when she had been searching for horcruxes with Harry and Ron.

Christmas break ended and the day finally came to head back to Hogwarts. Hermione was excited for her final semester at school, but she was extremely nervous about facing Draco later that day. The train ride back to Hogsmeade station was quiet.

Thankfully, no one had yet noticed the new piece of jewelry that Hermione wore on her left wrist. She didn't even know why she felt compelled to wear it all the time.

The train had stopped in Hogsmeade in the late evening. Everyone gathered their things and started towards the castle. After the short carriage ride, everyone took their things to their dorms, and then went back down stairs for dinner.

Hermione was surprised when she didn't run into Malfoy in the Heads Dorms, but she was unsurprised to see that he was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, in the Entrance Hall. He smiled when he saw her, his teeth blindingly white. He nodded towards a broom closet on the other side of the Entrance Hall and glided over to it. She sighed and slipped in after him.

The closet was so cramped; one first year would probably barely fit.

"So," Malfoy said, "I see you like your gift, yes?"

"Yes, thank you so much. It's beautiful. But you really didn't have to give me anything."

"I know. I wanted to."

"Thank you" she said again

"Anytime," he said smoothly, "so, about that kiss-"

"You were right," Hermione interrupted

"What?"

"I said you were right. I did feel something. We both did. But that doesn't change anything; I can't be with you. I'm sorry, Malfoy, it's just not going to work."

"What? No, no it will work. We can make it work."

"You don't get it. I can't"

"Why not? Explain it to me."

Hermione looked up into his pale eyes. God, she was really falling for him, she thought.

"He'll hate me forever," she whispered

"Who could ever hate you?" He asked, putting his hand on her waist and pulling them closer together.

"Ron," Hermione said quietly, "He'll think I lied to him."

"He doesn't have to know." Draco said seductively. He bent down and kissed her lips softly, "Please?" He said against her lips, "Please,"

Once again, she gave in. She pressed their bodies closer together, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like she'd never kissed anyone before. Not Viktor Krum, not Cormac Mclaggen, not even Ron. Hermione stood on her toes to reach his lips better.

Finally, they broke apart and she was immediately ashamed of herself.

"I have to go. They'll be wondering where I've gotten to." Hermione reached for the door, but Malfoy grabbed her wrist, "What?" she asked

"I told you so," he smiled that triumphant smile and released her arm.

"Shut up" she said smiling back as she slipped out the door and headed for the Great Hall.

No one noticed her late entrance except Ron, Harry, and Ginny. She sat down next to Ron and stared down at her plate. She could feel her face burning red.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked

"Oh, um I had to speak with- uh- Professor Vector." Hermione lied

"Right" Harry said. All three of them gave her a curious glance.

After dinner Harry, Ron and Ginny had Quidditch practice, so Hermione went to the library to study. She sat at her usual table in the very back of the library and pulled out a few books. She tried to study for awhile but she couldn't focus on what she was reading. Her mind was on Malfoy.

Why had she told him she couldn't be with him and then kissed him like the world was ending? Hermione stood up and headed for the exit.

"Leaving already?"Madam Pince, the school librarian, asked.

"Yeah, I didn't have much work to do."

"Well, have a good night, Miss Granger."

"You too, Madam Pince."

Hermione left the library and slowly walked to the heads dorms. She found Malfoy lounging on the couch, reading a book, when she entered the common room.

"Come back for more, have you?"

"Hey, I live here too, you know."

"Oh, I know." He said, getting up and walking towards her

"Malfoy-"

"I have a first name, you know." He said, taking her hand

"Fine. Draco. I told you this won't work." She said firmly, pulling her hand out of his grip

"Why are you doing this to me?" he asked, "One minute you're telling me that you can't be with me and the next you have your lips all over me. You're messing with my head, Hermione. Which is it? Do you want to be with me or don't you?"

"I do but-"

"Then it's settled." He said reaching for her hand again; she jerked it back.

"No, it's not that simple. I can't betray Harry and Ron."

"It can be our little secret."

"I don't know-"

"Come on, Hermione, please?"

Hermione looked straight into his eyes, prepared to reject him again, but she just couldn't. Something about those eyes gave her butterflies. He seemed so sincere. And once again, she gave into his charm.

"Alright" she said quietly

Draco let out a huge sigh of relief and pulled her into a tight hug.

"But it has to be a secret!" she reminded him, "at least for now."

"Don't worry, it will be." He smiled

Draco went off to Quidditch practice while Hermione sat down on the large sofa in the common room. She knew it was wrong to lie to her friends, but being with Draco just felt right. What caused this change of heart? Hermione thought. It all seemed so sudden.

* * *

><p>Hermione went up to bed before Draco got back. Over the next few weeks, they met in empty classrooms between lessons and in the common room in the evenings. Though Hermione felt bad for lying to Harry, Ron, and Ginny about where she was, she was happier than she had been in a long time.<p>

It was actually kind of fun for her; sneaking around. She'd never done anything like this before. About two months after everyone had returned from Christmas vacation, Hermione and Draco called a prefects meeting to coordinate exam schedules.

Hermione arrived first with Ron. She set her things down and pulled out extra quills and parchment. As everyone arrived, Hermione sat down and waited for the prefects to take a seat. Draco sauntered in and sat down next to her; Ron eyed him menacingly. When everyone was seated and quiet, Hermione stood to address the group.

She talked for a while, explaining the different exam schedules for each year. As she spoke, Draco wrote down everything she said. When she concluded, he passed a copy of the notes to every prefect and they were all dismissed.

As Hermione packed her things, she felt Draco's arms wrap around her waist from behind. She turned around in his grip to look at his perfect face. He smiled back at her sweetly.

"I love to see you take control like that." He whispered silkily in her ear. She blushed and stood on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. He kissed her softly at first. Hermione knotted her fingers in his beautiful blonde hair and pressed her body against his muscular chest, moving her mouth ferociously against his.

"Oi!" Someone shouted behind them. Hermione let go of Draco quickly and jumped away from him.

It was Ron.

"Ron, what are you doing here?"

"I left my potions book here!"

"Oh, I see" she said, glancing toward the table where Ron's book was, in fact, sitting

"Don't pretend like I didn't just see that, Hermione!"

"Let me explain-"

"No!" he shouted angrily, "I can't believe you would do this!"

"Please, Ron-"

"No! You lied to me! You've been lying all year! And you!" he said, turning to Malfoy, "You are scum, Malfoy!"

"Stop, Ron, just listen-" Hermione pleaded

"No, I won't listen to your lies anymore, Hermione Granger! You are both awful, you know that? You deserve each other!" with that, Ron turned and stalked out of the library.

Hermione was frozen with shock. Draco turned to look at her.

"I'm so sorry," he said, "This is my fault. I feel horrible."

"No it's not," Hermione assured him, her eyes welling up with tears

"Please don't cry, Hermione, it'll work out."

"He's going to tell Harry and Ginny and then they'll all hate me."

"Not if you get to them first."

"What?" She asked, puzzled

"Look, diner just started, maybe he hasn't seen them yet. You could explain it before he gives them his version."

"Alright," she sighed, "let's go." She said, gathering her things.

They walked to the Great Hall in silence. Draco stayed in the entrance hall, while Hermione headed for the Gryffindor table. Ron wasn't there. She walked over to where Harry and Ginny were seated but she didn't sit down.

Harry and Ginny looked up at her; Hermione could tell by the look on their faces that Ron had gotten to them first. She didn't say anything. She just turned around and headed for the door. Ron had probably told the whole common Room, judging by the fact that every Gryffindor was glaring at her as she left.

The days passed slowly. Harry, Ron and Ginny wouldn't even look at Hermione let alone talk to her. Since the whole school now knew about Draco and Hermione, they didn't have to hide in deserted corridors and empty classrooms.

Hermione was not acting like herself; snogging Draco in public, holding hands everywhere they went, trying to make Ron jealous. She didn't know why, but she was extremely mad at all of them. Shouldn't she be the one apologizing? She's the one who betrayed them.

* * *

><p>One evening, Hermione and Draco retreated to the Heads' Dorms to study when there was a tap on the common room window. Perched on the ledge was a barn owl with a letter clutched in it's beak. Hermione took the letter and flipped it over.<p>

"It's for you" she said handing it to Malfoy as she sat next to him on the sofa. He read the letter and sighed exasperatedly.

"What is it?" she asked

" My father has summoned me to Azkaban."

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><p><strong>Like it? hate it? suggestions for improvements? I WANT TO KNOW!:)<strong>

**I'm looking for a beta reader for the last couple chapters of this story! If you're interested, you can private message me. I'm looking for 2! (the story is going to end up being 9-11 chapters and maybe an epilogue) **

**Chapter 7 is in the works! Stay tuned! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's chapter 7! please review. I tend to write a lot faster when I know people are enjoying it!**

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><p>"So when are you leaving?" Hermione asked Draco, three days after he'd received the letter from Azkaban.<p>

"Tonight," he replied, "my mother is coming to pick me up at 8. I'll do with her to Azkaban to see what my father wants and I'll be back by 9AM tomorrow."

"What do you think he wants?"

"I don't know but let's hope he just misses me or something."

"Right, well, we've got Arithmancy in 10 minutes."

They left the common room, hand in hand. People whispered and stared as they walked through the corridors, but they were used to it by now. They found an empty table at the back of the class room and sat down. The lesson went by in a blur. And soon, Draco and Hermione were off to potions.

Although Arithmancy ended early, they were still late (they had spent some time in a deserted closet on their way) and unfortunately, the only two empty seats were right in front of Ron and Harry. They reluctantly took their seats, still holding hands. Ron made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat at the sight of them.

Hermione worked with Draco to brew their assigned potion while trying to ignore the constant glares coming from the table behind them. Although Hermione was upset with them for not letting her even explain, she did really miss hanging out with Harry, Ron and Ginny.

The rest of the day was uneventful. After dinner, Hermione and Draco went up to the common room.

"I'd better go grab my things, it's almost 8." Draco said, disappearing up the stairs. Hermione sat down in a chair by the fireplace and stared into the dancing, orange flames.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, suddenly right behind her

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She replied hastily, faking a smile.

"Hermione," He said sweetly, "I know when you're lying."

"I'm not lying."

"Is it your friends? I'm so sorry. Maybe you could talk to them after I've gone."

"Alright, I'll try," she said, standing up and wrapping her arms around his middle. He put his hands on either side of his face and lifted her eyes to his. They kissed softly, Draco holding her tightly against his chest.

He released her mouth after a minute to stare into her chocolatey eyes again.

"I'm in love with you, Hermione Granger." He said

Hermione was stunned. She didn't have time to reply. There was a crackling from the fire, and Narcissa Malfoy appeared from the flames, dressed in various shades of grey. Draco and Hermione let go of each other quickly.

"Draco, dear?" Mrs. Malfoy said, "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, mother," he replied picking up his school bag and walking towards her, "see you, Granger." He said looking back at her with a small smile. She tried to smile back, but he saw the obvious look of shock on her face. With a whoosh of flames, both Narcissa and Draco disappeared.

Hermione didn't move after they'd left. She stood, paralyzed in awe, in front of the fireplace. Did she love him? She didn't know. But she was sure of one thing: she had to make things right with the others. Hermione left the common room, in search of Harry, Ron and Ginny.

She headed for Gryffindor tower where she found Harry and Ginny cuddled together on the sofa. They fell silent when they saw Hermione enter.

"Harry? Ginny?" Hermione said quietly. They both glanced at her and then at each other. "Um- I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute." She continued. Harry nodded at her so she went on, "I feel like you didn't get the whole story, like I need to explain it to you myself."

"Explain how you lied to us, Hermione?" Ginny said bitterly. Hermione sighed

"No. I didn't lie to you. Well, not about what you're thinking of. Just please listen."

"Fine."

"I was telling the truth about what happened in the Astronomy tower and in the hospital wing, but I was lying to myself. I denied what I was feeling so it seems like I was deliberately being dishonest. I know it was wrong to go behind your back for so long, but being with Draco just feels right-"

"Oh god!" Harry said as though the thought of them being together was the most revolting thing he'd ever heard.

"Stop, Harry," Ginny said, suddenly sympathetic for Hermione.

"Harry," Hermione continued, "I'm happy with him. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Not since I had to send my parents to Australia. I don't need your approval or even your acceptance. I just need you to hear me out."

"Hermione, do you remember everything he's put us through? All of us! Just eight months ago we were trapped in his family's cellar and you were being tortured by his favorite aunt!"

"I know! That's why I was so reluctant to believe him! But he's changed, I don't know how or why it happened but it is what it is and you're not going to convince me otherwise!"

There was a long silence which was finally broken by Harry.

"So you're serious? He said, "you really….. like him?"

"Yes," she said more calmly, "I may even- even love him."

"Love?" Ginny said loudly. "Love is a very strong word, Hermione."

"Do you love Harry?" she asked quickly

"Well, yes but-"

"Then how is it any different, Gin?" Hermione interrupted

"This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about here."

"Fine," she said, "I told you I didn't need your acceptance. I was just trying to make things right with you." Hermione stood and stormed out of the common room. She ran down the stairs and out of the castle, not caring that it was already after dark.

She slowed down, breathing heavily, and walked across the grounds to the lake. She sat down on the small dock where the boats were kept, and dipped her feet into the water. She laid back, her feet still dangling off the dock. What was she doing? What did she know about love?

Meanwhile, Draco and his mother were just arriving at Azkaban. They climbed out of the rickety boat and began their trek up the steep rocks. After a fair amount of climbing, they finally reached a gate where two auror guards were positioned.

"State your full names and your purpose." The largest one said

"I am Narcissa Druella Malfoy and this is my son, Draco Lucien Gabriel Malfoy. We are here to see Lucius Malfoy."

"Ah, we've been expecting you. Right then, I shall escort you to the visitors' cells. Lucius will be there waiting, I believe."

The guard opened the gates and the three of them entered hastily. They walked along a longs winding path which led to two large steel doors. The guard waved his wand and there were several small clicking noises, and the doors opened slowly.

The guard ushered Draco and his mother inside. There was a long dark hallway in front of them, illuminated only by the moonlight shining it from the open doors. The guard turned and closed the doors magically, sending them into complete blackness.

"Lumos," the guard whispered, holding his wand out in front of him. Narcissa and Draco both drew their wands and whispered, "Lumos," just as the guard had. He led them down the hallway until they came to a door that read, "Visitors' Cells." The guard waved his wand once more and the same clicking noises were heard.

The door slowly opened, and they stepped inside. Both walls were lined with cells with large steel doors, each with a number on it. Draco could just make out the shadowy figure of his father through the dirty glass of cell number one.

"Alright," the guard said, unlocking cell one, "You may go in. You have one hour." Draco took a deep breath and followed his mother into the dank, musty smelling cell. There wall a small, silver table where Draco's father sat, looking weary. His face had sunken in and his hair was a brilliant blond mess.

He looked up to see his wife and son. He stood and kissed his wife on the cheek, but did not greet Draco with any such affection. Lucius gestured toward the two empty chairs opposite him and Draco and Narcissa sat down. Lucius cleared his throat and stared at Draco for a few long moments.

"So, Draco," he began, "how's school?"

"Would you just get on with it? Cut the crap." Draco answered cruelly

"Fine," said his father, his face turning red, "I told you to stay away from that mudblood, didn't I? Yes, I did, and you blatantly disobeyed me!"

"How did you know about that?" He asked quietly

"I received an anonymous tip from someone at Hogwarts."

"Who?"

"I said anonymous! I obviously don't know! But that is beside the point! You've always hated mudbloods, it's how I've raised you! What's gotten into your head?"

"I've changed father." Draco said calmly

"Why? What could possibly have changed you so much?"

"I decided that I didn't want to end up like you! Locked up in prison and hating everyone who doesn't have the right blood pumping through their veins!"

"How dare you speak to me that way! I forbid you to see that filthy girl again!"

"You can't keep me from her! I'll stay with mum tonight but then I'm done with this family for good!" he stood and stormed out of the cell. His mother whispered a few words to Lucius, kissed him again and followed Draco out of the cell.

They walked together out of the Visitors' room, into the dark hallway, and out onto the rocks once more. When they were far enough away from Azkaban, they disapperated together to Malfoy Manor. Draco still hadn't spoken a word since he blew up at his father. He headed straight for the stairs when they got inside, not even saying good night to his mother.

He lay awake for awhile, not able to get to sleep, when his mother knocked softly.

"Draco? Draco, dear? Are you awake?" she asked

"No." He answered coldly

"Draco, can I please come in?"

"Fine." She entered and walked toward his bed.

"Sweetie, your father needs me to do something for him." She said, taking his wand from the night stand, "He needs me to protect you."

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, sitting up

"I'm sorry, but it's for your own good," she said, raising her own wand.

"What are you-" he started to ask, but the deed was done. She whispered an incantation too low for Draco to hear and pain shot through his body. "Are you crazy? What did you do to me?" he said, his face contorted in agony.

"It'll stop soon." She said, her voice full of sorrow.

"What did you do?" he asked again in bitter rage.

"It's called The Kronos Curse. It'll keep you away from the mudblood."

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he bellowed

"I'm so sorry, Draco. Your father-"

"How could you do this to me? I love her, mother!"

"You can't, Draco! It's not right!"

"No, you're not right and neither is father!" he grabbed his bag, yanked his wand from his mother's grip and ran to the fireplace. He threw some floo powder into the flames and said, "Heads' Dorms, Hogwarts." He disappeared from Malfoy Manor and reappeared in the common room, where Hermione was pacing the floor.

"Hermione?" Draco asked, "It's 2AM. What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep. Wait, why are you back so early?"

"I had a fight with my mother," he answered, walking over to embrace her. Draco kissed the top of her head and held her tight.

All of a sudden, they both broke apart and doubled over in pain.

"Ow! Merlin! What just happened?" Hermione said, clutching her stomach in pain

"Ow- this must be what she meant." Draco said, backing away from Hermione.

"What do you mean? What happened in Azkaban, Draco?"

"My father- he knows about us. He said someone tipped him off."

"But this pain- what is it? I felt it about a minute before you got here, too."

"My mother," he stood upright, the pain subsiding since they were farther from each other, "she put a curse on me to keep us apart. I don't remember the name-"

"The Kronos Curse"

"Yeah, that. Do you know about it?"

"Not very much; I read it somewhere and I know it can keep two people from being physically near each other."

"What else? How can we get rid of it?"

"I don't know. I didn't read much about it."

"Well we have to get help!" he said panicking

"Tomorrow is Saturday. I'll go to the library."

"No, Hermione, we have to get immediate help! Like St. Mungo's!"

"Draco, calm down. It'll be alright." She said reaching for his hand. As soon as their fingers touched, they both doubled over in pain once again. Hermione staggered away from him. "Alright, maybe we do need immediate help." She admitted.

"Let's go. You go first, I'll follow."

Hermione threw some floo powder into the flames, and stepped in saying, "St. Mungo's!" She disappeared into the floo network and reappeared at St. Mungo's. Draco arrived only seconds later. There was a long white hallway in front of them which led to a reception desk.

"Excuse me?" Hermione said to the small witch behind the desk.

"Yes? How may I help you?" she answered

"We need a curse breaker." Draco said, "Like right now."

"Um- I'm sorry, the only curse breaker on duty tonight is with a patient. You'll have to wait awhile."

"No, you don't understand. This is an emergency. It can't wait awhile!" he said, raising his voice.

"Well you have to fill out this paper work anyway. Perhaps she'll be done with her patient by then." The receptionist said sweetly, handing them both several sheets of parchment.

Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist, forgetting about the consequences. They both felt the punch- in- the- stomach pain again and flinched away from each other. They filled out the paper work quickly and returned to the desk.

"Draco Malfoy?" Said the receptionist, glancing at the parchment.

"What about me?" Draco asked

"Oh nothing, nothing." She answered, scribbling some thing on to a slip of paper and sending it flying down the hall with a flick of her wand. Hermione gave her a curious glance. Seconds later, a door opened and a tall witch with jet black hair and rectangular glasses hurried over to where they were standing.

"Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger? I'm ready for you."

They followed her back down the hall to a small room with an examination table and a few chairs.

"So," she began, "tell me what's up."

"I'll tell you what's up! We've had the Kronos Curse put on us!" Draco said hysterically

"The Kronos Curse?" the doctor said, suddenly horrified.

"Yeah-"Hermione said, "Why do you look so scared?"

"Do you know who did this to you?" the doctor said quickly, a look of panic in her eyes.

"It was my mother."

"Narcissa Malfoy?" the doctor asked

"Yes, why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"The Kronos Curse is illegal. Please wait here, I'll be right back." She said. The doctor left the roon in a hurry, muttering to herself on the way out.

"What just happened?" Hermione said

"I believe I just sent my mother to Azkaban."

They waited another hour for the curse breaker to return. She came in looking distraught and shaking her head.

"I checked it out," she began, "and it seems that the ministry did detect the Kronos Curse being performed at your family's manor but they mistook it for something else at the time. I'm very sorry to tell you that your mother has been taken into custody. She's sitting in Azkaban right now."

Draco didn't seem upset about this at all.

"So what does this mean for us?" Hermione asked

"Well, Miss Granger, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you'd better sit down for this." Hermione and Draco sat in the hard chairs across the room. "First of all, The Kronos Curse is very, very, dark magic. It's also very complex. It hasn't been performed in over 300 years, and it's been illegal for even longer. It can keep two people apart or it can keep one person from a certain place or object. And it has very serious consequences-"

"Like what?" Draco interrupted

"Well, I'm afraid, if we don't find a cure, you two will be dead within 6 months."

Hermione and Draco stared at each other for a long time, soaking in the reality of their curse.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? Please Review!<strong>

**Hopefully chapter 8 wonk take me more than 6 or 7 days.**

**Stay tuned! **


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters! (I've been forgetting to do this)**

**Okay I know this took forever, but it was actually completely finished on friday night, but I didn't want to post it on friday the 13th. and then I was being super lazy yesterday sooo, I'm really sorry. Anyway, here it is! Enjoy! **

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><p>"I'm very, very sorry. We'll be doing everything we can to cure you. I'll be in touch when we have a lead." The doctor had said right before they left, leading them back to the fireplaces.<p>

Draco and Hermione stepped into separate grates and disappeared. When they got back to the common room, it was 5AM and the sun was coming up. Neither one of them said anything. They stared at each other for a few long seconds, saving this moment to their memories.

"We should get some sleep. We can skip our lessons today." Hermione said, heading for the stairs. Draco followed closely behind her. They entered separate rooms and lay down. Neither one of them could sleep. They lay wide awake, pondering possible cures. Eventually, they both fell asleep.

When Hermione woke up, she looked out the window to see that it was getting dark. She checked her watch; 7:30PM. She left her room and walked down the hallway to Draco's room. After she'd knocked softly, she heard him get out of bed. He opened the door and gave her a weak smile, his hair rumpled from sleeping.

"hey," he said softly

"hey"

"What time is it?" he asked

"7:30. Dinner has already started." She replied

"Do you want to head down to the kitchen?" They had been doing this for the past 3 months. Eating every meal in the kitchen with the house elves, who were delighted to have them.

"No," Hermione said, "let's go to the Great Hall."

"But- we can't sit together…"

"I know. Just this once? I need to talk to Ron. Please?"

"Alright" he said reluctantly

They walked down to the Great Hall, walking two feet away from each other. They entered through the large oak doors. Their arrival was unnoticed by everyone. Hermione and Draco took one last look at each other, and then parted ways; Hermione to the Gryffindor table, Draco to the Slytherins.

Hermione sat down a few places away from Ron. She ate by herself, trying to build up enough courage to go and talk to him. For the next 10 minutes, she felt both Harry and Draco's eyes on her. Finally, she got up and walked over to where Ron was sitting with Ginny and Harry. She sat down and turned to Ron.

"um- Ron? Can- can I talk to you-"

"Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it!" he said angrily, cutting her off. Hermione stared at him for a minute and got up quickly. She ran out of the Great Hall, hot tears streaming down her face. Draco shot to his feet and followed her swiftly out of the room, glaring at Ron as he left.

Hermione was sitting on the stairs in the entrance hall. Draco sat beside her, making sure he didn't get too close. She turned to look at him, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"I'm horrible," she said, "I'm a horrible person."

"No you're not, Hermione. He's the problem. He doesn't know how to forgive." He replied, wanting so badly to hold her in his arms.

"We've got to find a cure, Draco. I don't want to die like this."

"I know. Me neither."

They sat there for a long time, until dinner ended and people began to exit the Great Hall. They went back to their common room and sat by the fire. They didn't talk, didn't move, didn't look at each other. They just sat. For hours they stayed there, and eventually they both fell asleep again.

The next day was Saturday. Hermione woke first, slightly confused as to where she was. She got up and glanced at Draco fast asleep in the chair next to her, snoring softly. She'd better let him sleep, she thought to herself. Hermione scribbled short note on a scrap of parchment that read:

"Draco,

I've gone to the library to research. Meet me there when you wake up.

-Hermione"

She placed the note on the arm rest of his chair and left the common room, not caring that she hadn't showered or changed her clothes in 24 hours. She walked along the corridors in a daze. It must be really early, she thought, the castle seemed vacant. The library was empty except for Madame Pince, who was working quietly behind a tall desk.

"Good morning, Miss Granger," the librarian said kindly, looking up from her work.

"Good morning, Madame Pince," Hermione replied, smiling.

"You're up quite early, for a Saturday." She said, glancing at the clock on the wall

"Yes, well, I've got a lot of research to do."

"Well, good luck"

"Thank you"

Hermione headed to her usual table in the back of the library and set her things down. She went to the shelves and immediately pulled several books. She took them back to the table and began to read. The first book didn't help, nor did the second. As she opened the third book, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"I thought I might find you here." Hermione turned around quickly; it was Harry.

"Oh, hi Harry." She said quietly, turning back to the book she was reading about unusual curses.

"Hi, um, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said

"Yeah, sure" Hermione replied

"I just wanted to tell you that- um- that what Ron did to you yesterday was wrong. And-um- if you really do trust- er- Malfoy, then I'll support you." Harry said, awkwardly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, we've been through so much together, and I really do miss you, Hermione."

"Oh, thank you Harry! I thought you would never forgive me."

"No problem," he glanced at her book, "so, unusual curses? What are you working on?"

"Um-" she hesitated, "can you keep a secret?"

"Of course"

"Well, Draco's mother put a curse on me and him- so we can't be near each other. I'm looking for a cure."

"What curse?"

"The Kronos Curse; It's illegal."

"Well, are you going to be alright?" he said, suddenly panicked

"um- yeah, yeah I'll be fine," she said, not wanting to tell him it was deadly

"okay, well, can I help?" he asked

"Yeah, sure. That would be great, actually." She said, moving some books aside to make room for him.

"so," he sat down, "what are we looking for exactly?"

"anything you can find about the Kronos Curse. We don't have much information."

They searched and searched for an hour, but found nothing.

As they both hunched over books, reading intently, Draco strode into the library and stopped a few feet from the table where Hermione and Harry sat.

"Hey," he said, gazing into her eyes lovingly

"Hey," she replied, giving him the same look

Draco sat down and glanced at Harry curiously.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" he said nastily

"For your information, Malfoy, I happen to be Hermione's best friend!" Harry replied, his voice full of hate.

"Draco, it's okay. He's helping me." Hermione said, butting in

"You told him about this!"

"Yes! I can trust Harry, Draco, and so can you!"

"Fine," he said, "but you'd better not tell anyone. Not even your stupid girlfriend and her childish brother."

"I won't." Harry said, going back to what he was reading.

"So, what have you found so far?" Draco asked, looking at Hermione again

"Nothing, absolutely nothing at all. It's like it doesn't even exist!"

"Well, where have you looked?"

"We've looked in basically every book about curses that's in this library!"

"How about- the restricted section?"

"No, I would need a note, and I thought we were keeping this quiet!"

"So we'll sneak in tonight, Hermione. I've done it loads of times."

"You can use the invisibility cloak if you'd like." Harry piped in

"Alright, we'll sneak in. Thanks, Harry" Hermione said

"No problem. I would go get it for you, but I'm late for Quidditch practice." He replied, looking at his watch, "You can go get it now if you want; I think it's on the desk near Ron's bed."

"But won't Seamus and Neville be in there sleeping or something?"

"No, they usually come watch us practice."

"Okay. Thanks again, Harry. I'll head there once I'm finished with all of this."

Harry left for Quidditch, giving Hermione a small smile on his way out. She packed up her things and stood.

"Are you coming?" She asked Draco

"No. I'll meet you in the kitchens for breakfast."

"Alright, bye." Hermione left the library.

She climbed up seven flights of stairs and came to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?"

"Quidditch" the painting swung open and Hermione entered the common room. There were only a few early risers who were working on homework or reading a book, so she got to the staircase without being noticed.

She climbed the winding steps until she came to a door that said: "7th year boys". Hermione hesitated for a second, then opened the door just a crack to see if everyone had left. Sure enough, the room was empty. She looked around, trying to figure out where Ron's bed was. There was an orange "Chudley Cannons" T- shirt and a maroon sweater thrown onto one of the beds. That must be it, Hermione thought, walking over to the small desk next to it.

She picked up the invisibility cloak and started to walk away, but something else caught her eye. There were letters; a lot of letters. All addressed and written in Ron's chicken- scrawl handwriting that Hermione knew so well. She gave an audible gasp when she saw who they were addressed to: Lucius Malfoy, Azkaban Prison.

She quickly read through the first one, picking up phrases like, "snogging in the corridors" and, "skipping meals and classes together" and, "she is a muggle- born after all. Do you really want your pure- blood son with her?"

Hermione was shocked; it was Ron. Ron had been the anonymous tip- off.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? I want to know :)<strong>

**I'd really like to get 10 reviews for this chapter, if possible!**

**This story is officially going to be 10 Chapters and I may do an Epilogue. Oh, and Chapter 9 will be up in like 2 weeks because I've got a lot of exams and things going on next week!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own these characters :)**

**okay here's chapter 9 for you! Read&Review!**

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><p>Hermione grabbed the rest of the letters and the invisibility cloak, and bolted from the room. She flew out of the common room and down several flights of stairs. Once outside the castle, she slowed down, panting. She was angrier than she'd been on a long time. After she'd caught her breath, she sped up to a sprint again, heading for the Quidditch pitch. She stopped when she got there at last, staring up at the scarlet blurs whizzing by.<p>

"Ron Weasley!" she shouted demandingly, but he didn't hear her. She put her wand to her throat and quickly said, "Sonorous" and then shouted again, "RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! YOU COME DOWN HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" her voice amplified through the entire pitch. Everyone stopped and stared at her; Ron's face turned bright red.

He looked at Harry, who jerked his head in Hermione's direction. He flew down and landed clumsily on the grass. Hermione put her wand back to her throat, said "quietus" and her voice was it's normal volume again.

"What do you want, Hermione?" he asked, sounding irritated.

Hermione handed him the letters which were clenched tightly in her fist.

"I-I can explain- I" Ron stuttered after he saw what she had given him

"No, Ronald, I'll explain." She said calmly, "After you sent these awful letters, Draco Malfoy got called to Azkaban. And guess what happened after his father had a little talk with him? Narcissa Malfoy put a curse on Draco and I! Does that make you happy, Ronald? Is this what you wanted?"

"I only did it for you! You shouldn't be with him, Hermione! He's bad news and you know it! He can't be trusted!"

"You should be the last one talking about trust! I can't believe you~ Do you even realize what you've done?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are so think, Ronald! This curse can and will kill me! If I don't find a way to cure myself and my boyfriend, both of us will be dead in 6 months! 6 MONTHS! That's all I have and it's your entire fault!"

"What? Dead? No- no I didn't- I didn't know- I'll fix this-"

"YOU WILL NOT FIX THIS! IT CAN'T BE FIXED!"

Harry flew down to where they were standing, screaming at each other.

"Hermione, what's going on?"

"You remember that curse I told you about? Yes, well it's Ron's fault that I'll be dead soon, so you can thank him!"

"but you said it couldn't hurt you…"

"Yes, I know. I didn't want to worry you." she snatched the letters from Ron and threw them at Harry. He glanced over them, a look of shock appearing on his face.

"Ron- you didn't..." he said quietly

"HE DID!" Hermione roared, taking the letters from Harry once again.

"Hermione- please- please just listen to me-" Ron tried to say

"I don't want to here it, Ron. You've been saying that I'm the traitor! You hypocrite!" She said, and stormed off the field, leaving one very confused Quidditch team behind her. She power walked angrily through the castle, knocking many first years out of her way. When she arrived at the kitchen, she found Draco making small talk with an elf.

"Hey, Hermione, did you get the- wait, what's wrong?" He said, noticing her angry expression. Hermione threw the letters onto the table in front of him.

"I found these in the 7th year Gryffindors dormitories- Ron's handwriting."

"BLOODY HELL! THAT INSOLENT LITTLE GINGER!" Draco shouted after he'd read through the letters.

"I've already talked to him. He didn't even deny it."

"Hermione, what are we going to do?" he said more calmly, "We have to find a cure!"

"I know, I know. Maybe we'll find something tonight. I mean, there has got to be _something_ in that library about this stupid curse."

They ate in silence, and then went back to the common room. Hermione tried to study, but she just had too much on her mind. She was still furious. Hermione picked up a book and sat on the couch next to Draco. But she couldn't even focus on reading. She looked at Draco, who was staring at her curiously.

"Are you alright? I've never seen you so fidgety." He said, slightly concerned.

"I'm just distracted."

"Why don't you come to Quidditch practice with me? You've never been to a Slytherin practice before."

"Alright."

"Well, we'd better get going then."

They walked down to the Quidditch pitch together, after Draco had stopped at the locker room to change into his green Quidditch robes and to grab his Nimbus two thousand and one. Hermione headed for the stands while Draco rounded up the rest of the Slytherins. She watched for a long time. They were doing the same type of things that Hermione had seen the Gryffindors do countless times. After the practice was over, Draco flew to where Hermione was seated.

"Wow," she said, "you guys are really good."

"Thanks" he replied, looking slightly embarrassed, "Do you want to go get lunch?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll meet you in the kitchen after you've changed out of those filthy robes." She smiled

"How about we eat in the Great Hall today? You can sit at the Slytherin table with me. The others won't really mind."

"Okay, I guess. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah you've got nothing to worry about."

"Alright." She got up, and started to make her way out of the stands.

They stopped at the Slytherin locker room to drop off Draco's broom, but he didn't bother to change into his clean robes. They walked along the empty corridors in deafening silence. Hermione was nervous. What would the Slytherins when she sat down at their table?

They entered the Great Hall, where the rest of the school chatted excitedly. Hermione glanced at the Slytherin table.

"I'm not sure about this, Draco." She said

"Come on, they're really not that bad, Hermione. Please?" he pleaded

"oh, alright," she said reluctantly, following him to the Slytherin table. They sat down at the very end, as far away from the other Slytherins as possible. Hermione could feel all their eyes on her.

"This was a bad idea. They all hate me." She said nervously, looking around at everyone whispering to one another.

"Hermione, they're just curious as to why you're here. They don't hate you. Trust me, most of them are jealous of you." Draco replied

"Jealous? What for?" she asked

"Isn't it obvious? You're smarter than everyone at this table and they all know it."

Hermione blushed and looked away from him.

"Come on, 'Mione, don't worry about it."

They finished eating and set off for the common room once again.

Hermione sat down at her favorite table in the common room and pulled out her potions essay.

"Oh, I'm way behind on this!" Hermione said as she reviewed what she'd already written.

"You know that's not due for another week, don't you?" said Draco, sounding thoroughly amused.

"Of course I know when it's due, but I wanted to have it finished by Monday. I didn't realize how little I'd done."

"Little? Hermione, this is over a foot and a half on parchment! That's more than Slughorn asked for!" he said laughing

"Well, I know, but I've got much more to say on the subject!"

"You amaze me, Hermione, you really do."

Hermione blushed again, turning back to her essay. They worked side by side in comfortable silence.

After Hermione had added another two feet to her essay, and Draco had finished his homework for Charms and History of Magic, Draco noticed the time and turned to her.

"We've been working for hours. Let's go take a walk or something." He said

"Okay, we'd better hurry though," she replied, "Dinner starts in an hour."

They left the common room and headed out of the castle. Together, they walked around the lake until the sun began to set.

"Let's head to the kitchen." Hermione suggested, "I don't think I can endure the Slytherins again."

After they'd eaten dinner and made small talk with the elves, they went back to their dorms to wait.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Draco asked at half past midnight.

"Well, we'll both have to go because I can't carry all the books myself. So we'll both have to fit under the invisibility cloak. Once we get there, we need to find anything and everything about curses. We'll have to try to read as much of the books as possible in the library because I think Madame Pince will notice if all her restricted curse books are gone. I think bringing 4 or 5 back here with us should be safe."

From there, Hermione took the invisibility cloak out of her bag and swung it over herself and Draco. They crept out of the common room and through the corridors, being as quiet as possible. Once they were inside the restricted section, Hermione pulled the cloak off of them.

"Alright," she whispered, "you start here. I'll go start on the other side."

They pulled book after book off the shelves, searching for anything about the Kronos Curse. After they'd been at it for nearly 2 hours, Hermione strode over to Draco, her arms full of books.

"Here," she said handing him a few books, "we'll need to read these more carefully. We can take them back to the common room."

They returned the unhelpful books to the shelves and threw the cloak over themselves once more. Luckily, they made it back to the common room without any trouble. Completely exhausted, Draco and Hermione both agreed to continue their search the next day, and they trudged up the stairs to their rooms.

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><p>The next day was unsuccessful. The few books they'd brought out of the library were just as unhelpful as the 35 others they had looked in the night before.<p>

They spent every night for the next week searching the restricted section.

"It's useless." Draco told Hermione one afternoon

"We've just got to keep looking, Draco! We don't have much time!" she answered

Their searching continued for days, which turned into weeks and weeks of endless reading and re- reading and re- reading. One evening, while researching once again, Hermione suddenly burst out in excitement.

"Blimey!" she shouted, slamming her book closed, "I've been so stupid!"

"Hermione, what did you read?" Draco asked

"No, no it wasn't in the book! I've just realized! This curse hasn't been performed in over 300 years, right?"

"Yes, so? We've known that for ages."

"So, that's exactly it, isn't it? Not many people are aware of it because no one uses it, so no one who has written these books knows anything about it obviously!"

"I still don't see where you're going with this, Hermione."

"Draco, I'm saying that this curse isn't exactly common knowledge and it's obviously not taught in schools, so if someone wanted to perform it, they'd have to do some extensive research."

"My mother…"

"Exactly!"

"So let me get this straight, you think we should go ask my mother for a cure to the curse she put on us?"

"No! I think she would have done a lot of research and obviously she found answers or she wouldn't have been able to do the spell, and perhaps her sources are still at your family's manor." She said importantly. Draco was stunned. He couldn't speak for a minute.

"Hermione, you're a genius! I can't believe we didn't think of that sooner!"

"I say we go tonight." Hermione said quickly, "There's no point in waiting any longer."

"Alright," Draco answered

They stepped into the fire place together and with a whoosh of flames, they appeared in Malfoy Manor.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements? I want to know :P<strong> **thanks for reading! **

**By the way, I've opened up a poll on my profile page about the epilogue, so if you want to vote I'd be very grateful.**

**Expect the 10th (and last) Chapter in like a week, maybe a bit more depending on my homework load this week :)**

**-harrypotterfreak53**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright, here's chapter 10!**

**F.Y.I. this is not the epilogue. that's going to be a separate chapter.**

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><p>Hermione looked around. The last time she'd been in this room, she was being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. She shuddered, remembering the pain and fear she was feeling that night. Draco noticed her disturbed expression.<p>

"I'm so sorry, Hermione." He said apologetically

"What?" she asked

"That night, Bella was torturing you, and I did nothing. I stood there and watched you suffer."

"Draco, you couldn't have done anything. Come on, let's just hurry up so we can get out of here."

"Alright, we should start in my parents' bedroom."

Draco led Hermione upstairs to the master bedroom.

"Whoa." She said when he'd opened the doors

The room was decked out in expensive looking curtains and exquisite furniture, and a huge, king sized bed, neatly made and dressed, sat in the middle of the room.

"Personally," Draco said, "I think it's a bit much."

"Just a little," Hermione replied sarcastically

They went through every drawer and cabinet in the room with no luck whatsoever.

"I don't think we're going to find anything here." Draco said with a sigh, "Let's go check the study."

Hermione followed him to the door, but then stopped and back tracked few paces.

"What are you doing?" he asked

She jumped a little and the floor creaked. A triumphant smile crossed her face. She bent down quickly and pressed on the floor; it creaked again. Draco kneeled down beside her, a curious look on his face. Hermione felt around on the floor until she found what she was looking for; a loose floorboard. She pulled it up and started rifling through the many objects inside. Everything looked useless, until she came upon a book, written completely in ancient runes.

"Hmm…." She said thoughtfully, "this looks interesting." She handed it to Draco

"This rune here means 16th "he said pointing at the title, "and this one means century."

"Right," Hermione said, looking at the cover again, "and this means curses" she said pointing at the last rune in the title.

"So, 16th Century Curses? That sounds promising."

"Yeah, but we only have 4 months to find a cure. We can't translate this whole book in 4 months!"

"Well, we can translate the Table of contents and then just translate the part about the Kronos Curse."

"If there is a part about the Kronos Curse," Hermione said

"What have we got to loose? We've looked everywhere else. This book is our last hope!"

Hermione tucked the book into her pocket and stood up.

"Well, let's get going then. We've got a whole lot of translating to do." She said

They left the room and headed for the fireplace. Once back in the common room, Hermione immediately sat down and began working on the table of contents. Draco followed and sat down beside her. They worked for hours. This was taking a lot longer than Hermione had expected. Finally, after they were almost to the end of the Table of Contents, Hermione translated, "The Kronos Curse".

"Yes! We found it! Draco, we found it!" She said ecstatically.

"Well hurry! Turn to that page!" Draco replied

Hermione flipped through the book quickly, until she got to the correct page. She frowned immediately.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked

"This is thirteen pages long. Draco, that will take months! It took three hours just to do one page! We'll never finish in time!"

"Hermione, we cannot give up! We can do this!"

They continued working for another two hours and didn't even get through three quarters of a page. Finally, they decided to call it a night.

Over the next few weeks, all Hermione and Draco thought about was the translation; between classes, during classes, during meals. They were getting closer, but the book still hadn't said anything about a cure.

One afternoon, after potions, Hermione and Draco were in their common room translating once again.

"We've only got two pages left!" Draco said enthusiastically

"I know. Let's just hope the cure is in here. We've had this book for two months now."

They were getting faster and faster at working out the translations. One page now only took them about an hour to complete. Soon enough, they'd finished the second to last page with still no sign of a cure.

"Dammit," Draco said, "I've got Quidditch practice. I have to go."

"That's alright. I'll finish this. I'll come down if I find anything."

He left for practice while Hermione worked vigorously to finish. Not long after Draco had left, Hermione got to the last paragraph. She translated:

_ "There are few known cures to this wretched curse"_

Her heart sped up as she worked on:

_ "There are three most commonly used cures"_

Her brain working rapidly to get through the last few sentences:

"_The first way is for the original caster to perform the counter curse with the same wand they used to cast the curse with in the first place. But, it must be the original caster with the same wand."_

No chance of that happening, she thought:

_ "The second way to cure this curse is for one of the victims to kill the other."_

Definitely not:

"_And the third way is love. If both victims are truly in love with each other, one could perform the counter curse with the incantation; 'Carpe Kronororous Amare' and the curse will be broken. But it must be pure love. This curse will not be fooled by a love potion."_

Hermione set her quill down, her hand shaking. Did she love him? Did he love her? There was only one way to find out. Calmly, she headed toward the Quidditch pitch. When she arrived, Draco flew to the ground immediately.

"Did you find it?" he asked anxiously

She nodded, not able to speak.

"Well come on, what is it?"

She cleared her throat and then handed him the translation.

"Oh- um- wow. That's not as complicated as I thought, but- um- let's try it, I guess" he said after he'd read through it.

Alright," Hermione said, finding her voice. She raised her wand and said, "Carpe Kronororous Amare." She lowered her wand. Why didn't she feel any different? She'd expected to feel something.

Draco reached out his hand toward hers, anticipating the pain, but it never came. Their hands met. They stared down at their interlocked fingers and burst out in hysterical fits of laughter.

"We did it!" Hermione said, still laughing uncontrollably, "We actually did it!"

Draco pulled her close and kissed her deeply, enclosing her in a tight embrace. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, kissing him back aggressively. Finally he put her down and broke away from her mouth.

"I love you, Draco." Hermione said quietly

"I love you too, Hermione." He replied, "Hey practice is cancelled!" he called over his shoulder to his team, who all were looking slightly speechless. Hermione and Draco left the field hand in hand. They decided that a little time in the broom cupboard in the entrance hall was greatly deserved after all their hard work.

The last month and a half of term went by fast. Draco and Hermione were practically joined at the hip. They were completely in love and barely ever left each other's side. Harry and Ginny were beginning to accept this, even if it meant having to hang around Malfoy. As for Ron, well he and Hermione had some serious talking to do. But right now, she just wanted to be with Draco- forever.

"So," Draco said the night before they were to leave on the Hogwarts Express, "Am I going to see you over the summer?"

"Of course you will. What do you plan on doing all summer, anyway?"

"I thought I'd just stay at the manor until I can get a job somewhere."

"How about you come with me? To Australia. I'm going to find my parents."

"You- you really want me to come?"

"Yes, I really do."

"Alright then, I guess I'm going to Australia."

"Draco…"

"What?"

"I love you," she said quietly

"I love you too, Granger" he replied as he bent down to kiss her.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? Suggestions for improvements?<strong>

**I really would like to know what you guys want to see in the epilogue so if you have any ideas please private message me! (if no one has any suggestions I'll probably just go with what's in my head, but I'd really like to know what you all want) **

**Thanks for reading :) expect the epilogue in a week or so**

**-harrypotterfreak53**


	11. Chapter 11

**It's been three months since the last chapter and I feel like a horrible person. At first I really couldn't get the ideas out of my head and on to paper. I just felt like it was all wrong. Then I finally finished it about 2 months ago, but by that time I had started summer vacation and I got super lazy as you can tell. Again, I'm so so so sorry! please forgive me... :)**

**F.Y.I This is just a quick little summary of where the characters ended up, so nothing too exciting.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor have I ever owned the rights to these characters.**

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><p>5 years later...<p>

After graduating from Hogwarts, Hermione began working in the Department for Protection of Magical Creatures at the Ministry while Draco became a healer at St. Mungo's. Hermione was sharing an apartment with Ginny who was currently playing chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and who was newly engaged to Harry. Although they didn't live with eachother, Draco and Hermione spent every moment that they weren't working, together.

Recently Draco had been acting a little suspicious and Hermione was begining to worry...

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><p>On the 5 year anniversary of breaking the curse, Draco invited hermione over to his small two bedroom house where they prepared a wonderful dinner together. They sat down at the tiny kitchen table and began to eat.<p>

"Wow, this is really good. What is that seasoning called again?" Hermione asked curiously.

She looked up when Draco didn't answer right away. he was staring at her with a huge grin on his face, flashing those pearly white teeth.

"What?" Hermione asked, "What are you smiling at? Draco, what's so funny?"

"Nothing's funny." he replied

"Then why are yougrinning like that?"

"Because I love you."

"I love you too." She smiled

"No, you don't get it. I love you so much. More than you can imagine. More than _I_ can imagine. And because of that, I need to ask you something."

He stood and walked around the table to stand infront of her. His hand slipped into his jacket and drew out a little red box.

"Oh my god." Hermione said, covering her mouth with her hand, trembling. Draco slid down onto one knee, taking her free hand in his.

"Hermione Jean Granger," he began, "I've known you since we were eleven and I was always so jealous of you. Your brilliant mind, your great friends, your compassion for everyone. And over the years, you've taught me so many things. How to be caring, and supportive, how to brew a _proper_ shrinking potion." he smirked a little, "But most importantly, you've taught me how to love. How to love so deeply that it hurts, yet it feels so right. And for that, I wouldn't want to spend one moment without you. Will you marry me?" he opened the box to reveal a twinkling diamond ring.

Hermione was stunned. Tears were streaming down her face. She looked right into his icy gray eyes and nodded, speechless. He grinned and slid the glistening diamond onto her left ring finger, both of their hands shaking.

Draco stood up, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissed her sweetly.

"I love you so much." he said, staring into her molten chocolate eyes.

"I love you more."

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><p><em><strong>Fin.<strong>_

**Like it? Hate it? suggestions for improvement? I want to know :)**

**I'm goning to be starting a new fanfiction soon and I'd love your opinions on which ship I should focus on! I'll do canon or not canon or ooc or pretty much anything:) PM or leave a review if you want to see something specific!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS AND YOUR PATIENCE WITH MY PROCRASTINATION! I LOVE YOU!**


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